Leo and Kate’s decent reunion in ‘Revolutionary Road’

Leo and Kate team up for the first time since Titanic, in the 1950’s surburan drama Revolutionary Road. It has the pedigree, the great ensemble, and the impressive set design to become a true masterpiece. Instead, it settles for a decent movie that still feels like it could have much, much better.

They play a suburban couple, Frank and April Wheeler. On the surface, it all seems fantastic. They have 2 children, Frank has a steady job, and April is seemingly the perfect housewife. But beneath the surface, they hate each other. They’re bored with their seemingly perfect existence, they’re bored of the perfect image that their society imposes on them. But a ray of hope arrives when they come up with an idea: move to Paris.

First of all, the performances are fantastic. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are, as expected, fantastic. Although the giant arguments and bellowing are convincing and intense, it’s definitely the more subtle moments that shine through. A particular scene where following a large argument, April fixes Frank a breakfast, all fake smiles and small talk. This is the best scene of the film.

Michael Shannon, a mostly underrated actor, has three scenes in the film as a mentally insane mathematician who ironically, is the only one who can see beneath Frank and April’s facade. He recieved an Oscar nomination for his work, and was well-deserved. Although he’s on screen for 10 minutes, his scenes have the most lasting impact, which speaks worlds about how good he is.

Beyond the fantastic performances, there is little else that is noteworthy, other than the set direction and costume design. It truly captures the tidiness and stillness that the 1950’s homes possessed.  The dialogue oddly fluctuates between brilliant and dull, which can be said for the movie in general.

The major flaw is the ending. All of the promise, all of the tension that is built up throughout the movie is destroyed in a few seconds. You dont realize what’s happened to the characters, and other ones are thrown away altogether. The upside of this is that Leonardo DiCaprio’s last scene is fantastic.

Revolutionary Road is a film whose pedigree and promise lingers over it the entire time, and ultimately doesn’t deliver. However, the technical aspects and all the performances are excellent. It’s worth seeing, but the lower your expectations, the more you’ll like it. B-

Similar Posts:

• ‘Up in the Air’ review
• ‘The Lovely Bones’ review
• ‘Shutter Island’ review
• ‘I Can Do Bad All By Myself’ review
• ‘My Sisters Keeper’ a well-acted if uneven tearjerker

Comments