Revolutionary Road (Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio) – A depressing look at the lives of a couple in 1955 suburbia, Revolutionary Road is an acting tour-de-force for the “Titanic” re-pairing of Kate and Leo. Directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes (Best Picture American Beauty, The Road to Perdition, Jarhead), the movie begins as the Wheelers first meet in a club. April is a free spirit who is attracted to “the most interesting man she has ever met” in Frank Wheeler, a confident bon vivant with big dreams, a way with words, and oodles of charm. They marry and move to the suburbs with the intention of staying just a few years to get financially stable before pursuing their dreams of travel and the good life. It doesn’t take long before they are both engulfed and ingrained into the post-World War II culture – the men in their “uniforms” (suits, narrow ties and hats), the women as housewives in their aprons and skirts; and the secrets of suburbia. The couple, so in love and carefree in their early days, devolves into unhappiness on every front.
The rest of the film is filled with wonderful acting, not only by Winslet and DiCaprio but also by a supporting cast that includes a restrained Kathy Bates as the real estate agent, Helen Givings, who befriends the couple and her mentally ill son, John (Michael Shannon), who practically steals the film. He seems to be the only person who truly tunes into every nuance of the couple albeit in an obnoxious and uncomfortable way. In fact, the young Givings seems to be the entire metaphor for the times – an age of madness camouflaged in conformity. This is a film that will make you think while depressing the heck out of you. For a movie that is adapted from a book, it plays more like a live theater production. In fact, it would adapt well to Broadway, I think, if someone wanted to do it. The star-crossed lovers of Titanic clearly feel comfortable on camera together. While Leo is good, but Winslet, who is transcendent, upstages him. Maybe it is liberating to be directed by your husband because, while she is excellent in The Reader, she is magnificent here. This is a must-see film. And if you lived in suburbia in the mid-50s, as my parents did, it must be an introspective experience, however accurate.