Review of Revolutionary Road (2008) by Romeo H — 23 Mar 2011

Near the beginning of the film, Leonardo Dicaprio's character, Frank, tells a new girl at work that his job is a joke. He sees it as a joke because it was what his father did, and he aspired to be nothing like him, although he ended up in that position anyway. While it doesn't appear to be a comedy, director Sam Mendes has a way with conjuring humor from some of the darkest situations, and with this "joke" he sets up the rest of the movie as a cynical perspective of life in America during the 50's.

Frank and his wife, April (Kate Winslet), are stuck in what they see as a trap, because they've adapted to the idea that people must settle down after they've had children. Although their marriage is at its weakest point, April suggests that they pack up and move to Paris, where she will work and Frank can take time to figure out what he really wants to do with his life. At first Frank agrees with this plan, but temptation kicks in. He is offered a promotion that will give him and his family enough money to actually enjoy their life in America, but April points out that Frank is just giving in to the trap.

As the movie progresses, we meet various characters that have different ways of going about their lives in this time period. Michael Shannon plays an "unwell" son of Frank and April's neighbors, who doesn't hesitate to point out how foolish the couple are for staying in the trap. April understands him but Frank is adamant that the man is insane, which forces April to question her own sanity.

April points out that in order to get by during this time period one must be good at lying, because "Everyone knows [the truth], however long they've lived without it. No one forgets the truth, they just get better at lying." April's main aspiration is to become an actress. When we see Frank and April first meet, she tells him about how she is studying to be an actresses. Towards the beginning of the film she is in a small local play that gets negative reception from the audience. Although she says she wants to get a secretarial job in Paris, it's clear that she also wants to pursue an acting career there as well. However, when those plans start to become out of reach, she realizes that her only chance at acting is to act in real life, to pretend she enjoys the trap. We see then that everyone else realizes they are in the trap as well, but Frank and April are the only ones attempting to get out; everyone else has already adapted to pretending, so the couple's endeavors are a joke to them.

So is Revolutionary Road funny? Most people will say it's down-right depressing just because Frank and April actually have a decent life and it doesn't make sense for them to be so upset, but it is clear that Sam Mendes intended for Frank and Alice's situation to be humorous, just to point out the truth behind the American dream that was conceived in the 50s. With the couple constantly debating what is realistic and unrealistic (concerning their plans), the American dream is made out to be a fantasy to keep people planted securely in their traps. The acting in the film is flawless and the story is structured perfectly in order to satirize the way people live in society still to this day. It only makes sense that he would choose this era to show the origins of the dream.