Review of Revolutionary Road (2008) by Sam M — 29 Apr 2016

I'm still struggling to understand this film, but it seems to be about a wife and mother who feels trapped in her respective roles and tries to convince her husband to give her his responsibility-not so much because she wants to be bread winner per se, but because she wants something else in life.

Within the context of her family she feels delegated to wife and mother, and those roles clearly don't fulfill her. The problem seems to be then, that she doesn't feel like she can break away from her family and fulfill her goals, and when she realizes that her husband will never give her what she needs, she takes her life in response.

But then, she shouldn't have to break away from her family to find fulfillment: she should be able to have it within the confines of her family. But the film clearly states that the latter is not possible.

However, she wasn't interested in a mere outlet: she wanted Frank to stop working all together. She wanted complete control over her family. She wanted her husband to lounge around, 'figuring out who he is' while she worked and supported him and her kids.

She clearly wanted to delegate her husband to mere husband and father. April realizes however, that she will never have complete control over her family, and especially Frank, and it is that realization that drives her into the hopeless emptiness.