A Review: Revolutionary Road

A pretty picture about an ugly relationship.

Revolutionary Road is a film directed by Sam Mendes. When I think of Sam Mendes, I think of beautiful films about everyday life. He is somehow able to bring out a disturbing view on normality of everyday living of the American Life. I'm of course referring to American Beauty and now Revolutionary Road. Revolutionary Road stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio; before playing doomed lovers in this film they played as doomed lovers in Titanic.

Kate Winslet gives an amazing performance as April Wheeler, a woman torn between the path she knows is right, and the path she wishes to travel. She hates the fact that she has settled down and has assumed the role of the American Housewife. Did anyone else get the feeling that she secretly despised her kids? Leonardo DiCaprio plays Frank Wheeler. His performance was good, nothing award-worthy. He plays his character as a man who wants to change and do exciting things with his life, but is to tired to.

For some reason, I feel that having Hans Zimmer as the composer for this film would've made it infinitely times better. The music sometimes stood out to me, for the most part it didn't. It felt like generic dramatic film soundtrack. The music was very subtle and I feel it would've greatly improved the film if the music was very dramatic during Leo and Kate's arguments. Music in film is very important because it can change a whole film. A rule of thumb is you never want the music to overpower the film unless it's for a purpose.

A great example of film and it's soundtrack existing together perfectly would be Batman Begins, Notes on A Scandal (although the music ALMOST overpowered the film), Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code; basically anything resembling epic orchestra pieces. That type of soundtrack would've made this feel so much better, it would've amplified the normality and realisticness that Mendes was trying to show us in the film. It would've made each of the actor's moves and lines so much more alive and vibrant.

This film is shot very beautifully. The shot at the end where Kate Winslet has just given herself an abortion and is staring out the window is so haunting, it stuck with me even after the movie was over.

The script was very good. I loved how the detioration of April and Frank's relationship was played out. It was like watching a slow-motion car crash, and not being able to do anything about it. Throughout the film, the two main characters want to move to Paris; hopefully to start a new life and to do all the things they couldn't do after they had two children. Paris was their dream that was so close, yet incredibly far. I wonder what would've happened if they did go to Paris... would April have felt happy and full of life again? Was Paris really the answer to the problems in their marriage? Or was it the fact that they were both unable to accept the fact that they fell into the category of the American Dream, to which there was no escape?

Edit: How could I forgot to acknowledge Michael Shannon's amazing performance as Kathy Bate's son who has just returned from a stint in an Insane Asylum? He played the role perfectly. It could've easily been played as a Joker-esque type character. Shannon's performance was that of someone who isn't crazy, just ahead of his time.

A-