First of all, let me preface this review by stating that Kate Winslet can do no wrong in my eyes. I'm even willing to overlook the whole Romance and Cigarettes debacle. So put her in a 1950s drama with her ole Titanic buddy Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'm there faster than you can say Sam Mendes.
Revolutionary Road is about an unhappy couple living in suburban Connecticut. To say they are merely unhappy is an understatement. Both approaching 30 and saddled with two kids, the couple puts on airs of domestic bliss, cavorting around their 'burb with the preconceived notion they are better than everyone else while completely ignoring the fact that they are just like everyone else: stuck. April (Winslet) is an aspiring actress, and although we don't actually see her act, we do catch her husband, Frank's (DiCaprio) reaction to her acting skills, and it ain't pretty. So, as Frank sets off to Manhattan to spend a day at his mindless job, throwing back martinis and occasionally schtupping secretaries, April comes up with a harebrained idea to pack up their lives and move to Paris so that Frank can "find" himself. As what usually happens in these dramatic pieces, the shit hits the fan.
To say that Revolutionary Road is good is difficult. It's like subjecting yourself to masochism. It's rough to get through, and at the end, you may delude yourself into thinking, oh that can't happen to me... But while it's unsettling to watch, there is plenty of truth in the film, albeit uncomfortable. Michael Shannon shows up as John Givings, a mathematician who's been hospitalized for insanity, and who proves how unfit for society he is by making every acid comment cut to the truths that no one else will speak. It's fairly haunting.
Revolutionary Road, written by Richard Yates in 1961, was a book before its time, shattering myths of suburban perfection and displaying adult ennui and scenes of abortion when both of those were still taboo to discuss, however, the film feels a little too familiar nowadays with the prevalence of films in recent years devoted to exposing the ugliness under the shell of beauty in the 50s. This film almost feels like an extended episode of Mad Men, and not one of the better ones. You have beautiful exteriors mixed with boozing, sexing, and yelling, that's sooo Don Draper. And usually with Sam Mendes' direction, you have a incredible film, yet, this one feels almost stagey (perhaps he waited too long between films while directing plays overseas?) and a little less intimate than it should be.
All that aside, the performances are spectacular. Leo starts off a little slow, lagging behind Winslet's acting chops, but somewhere along the way, he catches up and holds his own next to her powerhouse of performance. And while Winslet has played the disillusioned and unhappy housewife before (probably in an even, dare I say, better character in Little Children), she is a marvel to watch. She just snagged a Golden Globe for her role in Revolutionary Road, which is long overdue and well-deserved. This film may be a beast to sit through, feeling sluggish and discomforting, but Leo and Kate give us performances so nuanced it may make up for the lack of the film on a whole. Tread carefully down this Road.
Review by: Darcie Duttweiler
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