I consider myself a fan of the films of James Gray, unlike the majority of American critics, who are pretty lukewarm about his work. So naturally, I’m pretty eager to see his latest film, in which he steps outside the cops’n’robbers milieu for the first time in his career to make, of all things, a love story. But this being Gray, the film looks to be more downbeat and steeped in a New York seventies-era sensibility than most films of this sort. One thing I find especially striking in this trailer is the simple sincerity of the dialogue- unlike many big-screen lovers, who seem to be so idealized they’re scarcely believable as people, I have no trouble recognizing the characters I see here. I also have hopes for Joaquin Phoenix’s performance- supposedly his last- as Gray seems to be one of the few filmmakers out there who brings out new sides of the actor. Two Lovers may not be what most moviegoers are looking for from a date movie, but I’d rather see one love story like this than twenty Pretty Womans.