Review of Revolutionary Road (2008) by Zack B — 04 Jul 2011

With a second viewing I realized that this is a true masterpiece. For me it was hard to see that at first because I was so devoted to the book and because I didn't see how a simple adaptation of a typical suburban family story could be a moving masterpiece.

I certainly did see how it could make a quality film. But no, it's more than that. DiCaprio and Winslet are unbelievably good. Their acting is so brutally honest that you MUST sympathize with both of them.

You MUST analyze both of their positions. You MUST feel something for both of them. This is because they play the everyday people and they do it so honestly. It makes no difference that it's set in the monotonous suburbs of the 50s.

But by far the greatest performance in the film is Michael Shannon's. I know, the crazy character always gets the acclaim. Well, it's no wonder when you see Shannon. He's on screen for such a little amount of time, but the best scenes are the ones with him because his character's unflinching honesty just flat out destroys the illusions that the Wheeler's are setting up for themselves.

He brings them back to the real reality that most people dismiss as crazy talk. The Wheeler's know that going to Paris is living the dream. That they can get away from the lack of satisfaction in the suburbs and get into the vibrant passion of some big city (for them Paris) where people aren't afraid to live the way they want to.

"It takes back bone to live the way you want to," April tells Frank. Damn right, though they both never take that to heart. At first they are settled on Paris, ecstatic and willing to meet change with a grin.

But what happens? Frank gets the opportunity for promotion: recognition. He's never really known what he wanted to be or even what he was ever interested in. But when he gets that recognition, he eats it up.

He doesn't need or want Paris. But he does. They both do. But they're both held back by what is deemed proper and adult. The move to Paris is dismissed as childish but is it really? Why should it be? Michael Shannon's character could've saved them probably, had he not been so aggressive and more understanding, calmer.

But that wasn't his style. These people wouldn't listen to a guy pretending to be calm and handing out free marital and situational advice. I'm glad he was aggressive. When we're kids, most of us develop some kind of dream, something we desperately need to do because we just have to.

Some of us get lucky and hold onto those dreams until we're adults. Some of us achieve those dreams. Revolutionary Road is kind of about the unfortunate people, who are many in real life, that must be contained in the worlds around them.

Their dreams are looked at as childish or unrealistic and they begin to believe that. Then they give up and settle for what society says is a life. That's what makes April and Frank such relatable characters.

I'd venture to say just about all of us know what it's like to loose sight of dreams and to settle for the kind of lives we swore we'd never live. Sam Mendes knows how to make movies about these seemingly simple but emotionally complex stories of the suburbs and how it's inhabitants dream of other realities while fighting for their sanity.

American Beauty is another masterpiece by Mendes, to me the greatest film of the 90s. He knows how to get us involved with these characters. When a director can do that, he/she has already made a step towards a truly effective and poignant film.

And when a director can do that without being cheezy or settling for the formulas and cliches of other films, he/she has made a step closer to making a masterpiece of drama. I think Mendes has accomplished it with American Beauty and this film.

The cinematography by the master Roger Deakins is the other thing I must praise. It's gorgeous. It's perfect. The lighting is so cold and sad. It all works. It really does.