(Spoilers) The movie starts with an aborted suicide attempt by Leonard Kraditor. Leonard is in his early 30s, lives with his Jewish parents, and works for his dad's dry cleaning store. Before we know it Leonard is romantically involved with his neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Sandra, the attractive daughter of a business associate of his dad.
There are many things wrong with the script; I will cover only a few of them. The thing that sinks the story from the beginning is that neither of the women that Leonard is involved with would ever give him the time of day in real life. Living with his parents, being inarticulate, and not being able to succeed in his simple job of delivering cleaning to his dad's customers would set off enough alarms for any woman to give this man wide berth. And Sandra would have known of his suicidal impulses--such things are never secret among close families. Why would Sandra, an attractive healthy woman, pursue such a loser? Leonard's room is a mess, a physical manifestation of his mind; his mother would never allow for this kind of mess in her house.
At the end Leonard and Michelle, in a spur of the moment decision, are to take off to California together. You know that this is never going to happen and are just waiting for the excuse which comes in the form of Michelle's announcing that her high-dollar married lover has decided to divorce and be with her. Leonard is crushed and in despair, but instead of another suicide attempt he returns to a party and offers Sandra the diamond ring that he was going to give to Michelle. Any normal person is not going to switch emotional gears so easily, so I doubt that an emotional train wreck like Leonard would be able to do so.
Isabella Rossellini is good as Leonard's mother; Joaquin Phoenix is convincing as a mumbling nerd, but not so much as a romantic partner; sadly, Gwyneth Paltrow is wasted.
This is an unbelievable concoction dreamed up by screenwriters who seemingly have little understanding how real people interact.
There are many things wrong with the script; I will cover only a few of them. The thing that sinks the story from the beginning is that neither of the women that Leonard is involved with would ever give him the time of day in real life. Living with his parents, being inarticulate, and not being able to succeed in his simple job of delivering cleaning to his dad's customers would set off enough alarms for any woman to give this man wide berth. And Sandra would have known of his suicidal impulses--such things are never secret among close families. Why would Sandra, an attractive healthy woman, pursue such a loser? Leonard's room is a mess, a physical manifestation of his mind; his mother would never allow for this kind of mess in her house.
At the end Leonard and Michelle, in a spur of the moment decision, are to take off to California together. You know that this is never going to happen and are just waiting for the excuse which comes in the form of Michelle's announcing that her high-dollar married lover has decided to divorce and be with her. Leonard is crushed and in despair, but instead of another suicide attempt he returns to a party and offers Sandra the diamond ring that he was going to give to Michelle. Any normal person is not going to switch emotional gears so easily, so I doubt that an emotional train wreck like Leonard would be able to do so.
Isabella Rossellini is good as Leonard's mother; Joaquin Phoenix is convincing as a mumbling nerd, but not so much as a romantic partner; sadly, Gwyneth Paltrow is wasted.
This is an unbelievable concoction dreamed up by screenwriters who seemingly have little understanding how real people interact.