Revolutionary Road

Objective Rating (How much merit I think it deserves):
8/10
Subjective Rating (How much I personally like it):
6.5/10

Year released: 2008
Runtime: 119 minutes
IMDB page: here

Well, if you have heard anything about the movie, you know it's depressing, so you should be mentally ready before you start watching. If you are already having thoughts of suicide, perhaps you should wait till a happier day.

Plot: 1950's, suburbia in Connecticut. Married couple Frank and April used to love each other, but upon hitting 30, things begin to rot as they grow restless of their dead lives, as Frank is stuck at a boring desk job and April is stuck as a failed actress trapped with the duties of a housewife with 2 children. They want to live, to be meaningful, to dream. April makes the crazy suggestion that they sell everything and move to Paris, where they can finally start living. Frank hesitates but then agrees. Things perk up as they make the preparations, but a few unforeseen incidents and inevitable reality get in the way, and...

Cast: The first reunion of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet after the famed Titanic. Things are tragic in a very different nature. Love cannot conquer all, after all. Both have matured a great deal in acting. They are both really fine actors, but they just don't hit me personally, DiCaprio with his usual violent desperation and Winslet with her usual inner righteousness. Especially with Dicaprio... it's just so difficult to see him as anyone but Leonardo DiCaprio, be it in Gangs of New York or The Aviator or Catch Me If You Can (a remarkable exception is The Departed, where you can actually forget who he is). Point of note goes to Michael Shannon, who is brilliant and biting in his Oscar-nominated role as an emotionally honest mathematician sent to the madhouse by his parents.

Script: Based on Richard Yates' novel. Some of the lines are so poignant. The story is also quite universal, basically about the early onset of midlife crisis. Except the couple is only 30 years old, so they actually have real hopes of changing life to the way they want, which makes the crash to reality all the more harsh.

Production: Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty), who is also Winslet's husband. It's a period piece, so the set design and the costumes all have the 50's feel, quite authentic. Shooting on location instead of at a soundstage at a studio also makes it more realistic, though there is a cramped feel sometimes (a good thing, since it adds to the claustrophobic nature of the situation).

Like I said, it's a depressing subject matter. I recognize that it's really great material because it really makes you think, makes you feel for the characters and for yourself. To be able to generate that kind of powerful emotion in the audience is no easy feat. But I personally may not welcome that kind of emotion. To someone who has little faith in marriage to start with, this just confirms my worst fears about marriage and life in general. It's pretty much all downhill after the moment you are born. The characters are realistic, their dilemmas and the ways they choose to cope are realistic, and therefore their inevitable failures are realistic and all too uncomfortably close to our lives.