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Joaquin Phoenix has been having a rough time in the media lately.

There was the mumbled charity-benefit announcement that he was retiring from acting.

The David Letterman appearance where he was so silent and awkward that Letterman eventually quipped, "I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

Ben Stiller's Academy Awards routine, where he chewed gum, donned a matted wig and beard and wandered vaguely around the stage, was a clear imitation of Phoenix's recent appearances.

In the space of a month, Phoenix has become an easy visual joke. It's no wonder that the director and producers of his alleged last acting project are worried that the media attention will overshadow their film.

"Two Lovers" is a small, delicate concoction of moods and moments, far quieter than all the current Phoenix-related hoopla. But his heartbreaking performance may incline audiences to think of him in a new light, or at least return to thinking of him in the old one.

Phoenix stars as the emotionally ravaged Leonard, who begins the film by attempting to drown himself in Sandy Hook Bay. Afterward, he shuffles away from his rescuers, soaked and sheepish, and shuts himself into his room as his father and mother (Moni Moshonov and Isabella Rossellini) whisper fearfully outside.

He's well into his 30s, but thanks to a broken engagement, a bout with depression and a previous suicide attempt, he's living like a teenager again, in his parents' home. They're the source of his job, his limited social life, his meals and even his romantic prospects, represented by prototypical "nice Jewish girl" Sandra Cohen (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of his father's proposed business partner. Leonard's parents mean well, but their attempts to help and control him overshadow him as heavily as his failures.

Eventually, Leonard seems to see a way back to independent adulthood via bubbly blond neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), whose self-absorption and easygoing chatter take the focus off him.

When she doesn't immediately share his attraction, he tries settling for the sweet, undemanding Sandra, but he can't help repeatedly trying to force himself into Michelle's life, perhaps to escape his own.

Thanks in large part to Judd Apatow, the multiplexes are full of films about bumbling boy-men just starting to grow up, but "Two Lovers" reads as a gentle repudiation of the whole cinematic fad. Leonard's arrested development is complicated and nuanced, bound up in honest affection for his family as well as frustration, and he's full of minor surprises, particularly when he's called upon to enter Michelle's hyperkinetic world.

Phoenix plays him beautifully, as a man who's limited but not stupid, struggling but not out of control. The film centers completely on his performance.

By contrast, the two lovers of the title get short shrift. Co-writer and director James Gray showed a similarly keen sense of relationships, troubled souls and closely observed New York neighborhoods in his three previous films, "Little Odessa," "We Own The Night" and "The Yards." But he and writing partner Ric Menello make a serious sin of omission by not giving Michelle or Sandra the depth of personality to match Leonard's. But the film's quiet earnestness, its solid grounding in Leonard's family and its sense of impassioned loneliness carry it beyond the sometimes frustratingly one-sided plot.

If Phoenix does carry through on his threat to leave acting behind for good, he could hardly ask for a more tastefully executed, sweetly melancholy swan song.

Two Lovers MPAA rating: R (for language, some sexuality and brief drug use).

Running time: 1:50.

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix (Leonard); Gwyneth Paltrow (Michelle); Vinessa Shaw (Sandra); Isabella Rossellini (Ruth).

Directed by James Gray; written by Gray and Ric Menello; edited by John Axelrad; photographed by Joaquin Baca-Asay. A Magnolia Pictures release.

Two Lovers, a romantic drama set in New York, tells the story of Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), an attractive but depressed young man who moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak.

An aspiring photographer, Leonard works part-time at his father's dry-cleaners. His concerned parents try to set him up with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the sweet and caring daughter of a close family friend. A big family dinner serves as their introduction and Leonard arranges to see her again.

Then late one night Leonard looks out his bedroom window and notices a ravishing young woman he's never seen before. Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) recently moved into an apartment in his family's building - an apartment paid for by the wealthy married man she's seeing.

"Slumdog Millionaire" Leads the Way
81st Academy Award Oscar Winners 2009

In much the same manner that the film captured the hearts of movie-goers, "Slumdog Millionaire" captured the hearts and votes of the Academy garnering 8 Oscars in total, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Sean Penn won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Harvey Milk in the movie "Milk," while Kate Winslett won her first Oscar in the Best Actress category for he role as Hanna Schmitz in "The Reader."

Heath Ledger won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," posthumously. Ledger died on January 22, 2008 after an accidental drug overdose. Penelope Cruz won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Elena Maria in "Vicky Christina Barcelona."

"WALL-E" took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature:

This year's top Academy Awards nominated film, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with 13 Oscar nominations, won 3 Oscars (Achievement in Art Direction, Makeup & Visual Effects).

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