Movie Review: Two Lovers, Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw

My first impression of this film was that Gwyneth Paltrow must have really fallen from grace to agree to star in this film.

"Two Lovers" was one of those B rated flicks that keeps you interested at times, only to lose you a minute or two later when - whether it be through poor dialogue or bad acting - the film does something to remind you just how bad it is.

Joaquin Phoenix (did anyone know that he was still around) did a decent enough job at portraying 'Leonard' - a troubled grown man who is living with his parents - but the dialogue is downright terrible in some scenes and Paltrow doesn't give the impression for one second that she is happy about being in the movie.

I usually try to find at least one reason why to watch a particular film, but with this one I honestly cannot think of one.

The plot line is not quite realistic while bordering on creepy and none of the stars gives that outstanding performance that could make a borderline movie watchable.

Pass on "Two Lovers"; it gets zero stars from VFC.

Confessions of a Shopaholic, Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy and John Goodman

You read the title correctly, I really did watch this movie. That's what happens when you send wifey to pick out a movie for a Saturday night staying in.

The studios aren't dumb, they played this one right. 'Shopaholic' doesn't warrant a big name star, nor is it worthy of one, but by signing on Isla Fisher it looks watchable to the guy who's trying to decide which 'chick flick' to watch with his girl. That'll sell a few more tickets at the box office and a few more DVDs at Blockbuster.

The movie is mildly entertaining. Wifey got a lot more of the shopping jokes than I did, naturally, but I found myself laughing quite a bit at Fisher's 5th avenue antics.

Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood, a magazine columnist who lands a job with a financial magazine whose editor also becomes her love interest (since every movie has one of those). The secret that she is trying to keep from her new boss, and lover, is the fact that she's- you guessed it- a shopaholic. The problem is that her shopping habits have caused her to max out her various credit cards and a determined debt collector (you'll laugh when the debt collector meets a Batman ringtone) is hot on her trail.

Sound exciting? There's a lot dead time or 'filler' dialogue in this one, where you think the movie is on pause only to realize that it's actually still playing and wifey is still laughing.

For a chick flick, however, you could do a lot worse.

John Goodman comes out of his acting hiatus to play Rebecca's dad. His few spots are pretty funny and he's making a reputation for himself as a dad with some hottie daughters (remember, he played Piper Perabo's dad in Cayote Ugly).

The girls will get an hour and a half of some decent shopping laughs and will undoubtedly enjoy the movie a lot more than the fellas.

The guys get Isla Fisher and a few jokes that are aimed at everyone.

Compared to other chick flicks I'll give this one three stars.

Standing against any other movie on the rental rack i'll give it two. You'd have to watch a lot of movies before convincing yourself that you need to see this one-

unless, of course, you're sending wifey to the video store. Then you get what you deserve.