Revolutionary Road Review

View our special Revolutionary Road feature!

"Revolutionary Road" reviews

Movie

Revolutionary Road

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2009-10-29 21:31:25

Rating

3.5/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Revolutionary Road is a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf for a new generation -- a magnificent dramatic explosion with the kind of sheer force we haven't seen on screen in years.

Story

Novelist Richard Yates tried for years to bring his 1961 story of marital trouble in '50s suburbia to the screen but died before seeing it finally come to fruition in the form of this scorching adaptation by writer Justin Haythe. April (Kate Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) are young marrieds, living what appears to be the ideal life in the Connecticut of the 1950s. He has a nice job, she is a mother of two with dreams of an acting career. But beneath the surface is a lingering dissatisfaction with their lives; Frank is having an affair with an office worker (Zoe Kazan), and April is terribly unhappy with the way her life is turning out. They engage in ferocious arguments, constantly disproving the idea they are the perfect couple. One day April decides the answer to all their problems is to move to Paris and start over. Frank initially agrees, but the relationship goes downhill even further from there and things spiral out of control.

Acting

Revolutionary Road's brilliant ensemble ignites and delivers on just about every level imaginable. Kate Winslet, who seemingly can do no wrong these days, is heartbreakingly good as a housewife who foreshadows the feminist movement. Her April is an ambitious, confused woman tragically living a couple of beats ahead of her time. Leonardo DiCaprio gives his finest film performance as a man who knows he is not living up to his potential but seems to be in a state of denial trying, almost pathetically, to keep what's left of his marriage and family together. It's the subtext and unspoken words between them that really give power to these tremendously effective performances. After the first 10 minutes, you will be so mesmerized by their raw, naked acting you will forget you are watching the two young stars who first appeared together in Titanic a decade earlier. Kathy Bates as a cheerful real estate agent with her own family problems is also quite good, as is Michael Shannon, as her disturbed grown son who seems to know more about the sad state of the Wheelers home life than anyone realizes. He should be a frontrunner for the supporting actor Oscar if there is any justice. Also blending in nicely are Kathryn Hahn and David Harbour as neighbors who are the polar opposite of Frank and April.

Direction

Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for directing yet another stinging view of suburbia with his Oscar-winning American Beauty does another great job of bringing out the essence of what Yates says about a generation hiding behind a façade of happiness but living on the cusp of great, profound social change. Mendes lets long dialogue scenes play out, packing them with riveting moments. His filmmaking style should be savored for the insights it provides and the emotional challenges it presents. Mendes also manages to get an extraordinary portrayal of suburban angst from his real-life wife Winslet. Not since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton battled so brazenly in 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf has there been a wounded couple's marriage so deeply and poignantly exposed on screen.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 1/2 stars.

Movie

Revolutionary Road

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2009-01-29 14:54:20

Provider

Review

The Titanic coupling of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are reunited for this adaptation of Richard Yates' bestseller about a couple in 1950s America trying to break free from conformity.

April and Frank meet at a '50s boho party in New York. Much in love, they marry and soon after, as the Wheelers, they move into a new home on Revolutionary Road. Frank has a job in Manhattan and April becomes a homemaker with the arrival of children. Though they're determined to maintain their passions and independence, the inertia of their new life grinds them down. Frank's job becomes routine and April struggles with the repetitious, dull ache suburbia brings.

As April's unfulfillment manifests itself in frustration and depression, she prompts Frank to join her in a fantastical plan to leave the USA for Paris. He initially revels in the idea but, as the plan takes form, his growing fear of losing everything sets him against April's enthusiasm and escapist dreams. Their love and higher ideals begin to crumble, thrusting them into the arms of others and edging them towards separation.

Sam Mendes' direction shares an affinity with the more contemplative moments of his Oscar winner, American Beauty. The fake serenity of suburban life and the rush and push of New York are acutely realised and contrasted. Meanwhile, DiCaprio and Winslet do well to portray the torturous piques and troughs of their almost bipolar relationship.

However, the two parts never really connect. This is a novel about what's burning inside this couple - on-screen this means they cut and thrust from elation to dejection at a moments notice. Consequently we can't see the characters true arcs and are often left unconnected to their plight. It takes a mentally challenged visitor to their home (in the form of Michael Shannon) to wrestle the truth onto the screen. His blunt comments tell the facts about Frank and April, but leaves Mendes' directorial approach crucially flawed.

Shannon is the catalyst to launch the third act. Which becomes the Kate Winslet show and is proof she's one of the toughest acting talents to grace tinseltown in the last 25 years. She grabs your emotions by the scruff of the neck and wrings every last drop out of you.

The book's depth and subtleties may have been sacrificed for cinema, but Kate's powerhouse portrayal of April can barely be contained by the screen.