Movie Review Rewind: Revolutionary Road (2008)

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Everyone probably knows by now that it has been 12 years since Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio have been on screen together. Of course, I am talking about Titanic. Finally, after all these years, they decided to do this film. There is a lot of pressure on these two because of the success of their last one together. But I believe it was important to tell a different story this time around. And they did just that. Whatever relationship Jack and Rose had in Titanic, Frank and April Wheeler’s relationship is the complete opposite in Revolutionary Road.

The story is about this couple, The Wheelers, in the 1950s. In this era, men earned the money and the women stayed home. It was a life of conformity. However, the Wheelers wanted to be different. They wanted to be special. But soon they find themselves in the same situation as everyone else. Some may be happy with that, but not Frank and April. So, April comes up with this idea of Frank and her escaping to Paris. This gives the couple hope for a while.

This story really is about a couple desperately trying to keep their marriage together, however, it is slowly dying instead. DiCaprio and Winslet are amazing in this film. They are good friends in real life and it’s a good thing. Some of the scenes they have together seems like pure hate for another. But they are just great actors. They are able to leave all of their emotions on screen. Winslet has already been in a great film this year called The Reader, and she does not disappoint in this either. April is a completely different role, but Winslet nails it. DiCaprio stands toe-to-toe with her, though. They drive this film and their reunion was worth the wait. As they have matured, so has their material.

I have to acknowledge two other key players in this film. The director, Sam Mendes, does a great job showing true suburbia in America. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the 1950s or in present time like in his directorial debut,  American Beauty. He is able to show how people really are and the conversations they might have behind closed doors. Everything may seem perfect, but it’s not.

The other person is Michael Shannon. He plays weird characters and this one is no different. However, he is the only person who sees the truth. His character is considered to be “insane,” but is actually the most sane person in the film. Everything he says has truth to it, and may hit too close to home for Frank and April. He brings up the subject of emptiness and hopelessness that haunts these characters. Mendes loves a story about people. Real people. But he also enjoys a tragedy. There is no happy ending in American Beauty. There is no happy ending in Road to Perdition. And guess what? There is no happy ending in Revolutionary Road.

“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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