Jul

11

Revolutionary Road (2009)

Posted by Movie_Maven

July 11, 2009 |

I have wanted to see this film since it was released in the theatres and finally got the opportunity to rent it.  I am a huge Kate Winslet fan and despite being told that “it was like ‘Titanic‘ but on land” I watched it anyway and loved it.  Yes, this film reunited Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio - and Kathy Bates, as a matter of fact - but had a completely different feel to it.

DiCaprio stole the movie, which surprised me.  Winslet was great (although not as great as she was in “The Reader“), as was Michael Shannon as a mentally ill neighbor, but it was DiCaprio’s raw emotion which permeated the story of an unhappy married couple in 1955 Connecticut and how they coped with her failed ambition as an actress and unfulfilled life as a housewife and mother and his working in a job in which he feels equally unfulfilled.  Granted, it is not a cheery movie and is definitely not for everyone, but the acting, story, and direction (by Winslet’s husband Sam Mendes) were superb. 

The movie was based upon a novel by Richard Yates (which I bought but haven’t read yet) and, from everything I’ve read, remained true to the book but seemed to lack a lot of the inner turmoil that Yates was able to write so well that does not translate well to the screen.  At any rate, for a well-acted drama in which many people, including myself, can relate to in terms of seeing similarities to one’s relationships - or one’s parents’ relationship - ”Revolutionary Road” does not disappoint. 


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