Revolutionary Road needs repaving
Written: Feb 08 '09 (Updated Feb 08 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Great job by Michael Shannon who portrays a mental patient, cinematography is solid.
Cons: A real downer that offers little insight into life. Definitely NOT for children!
The Bottom Line: I just cannot recommend paying full price for this movie. If you want to see it, wait for it on video. Did I say it's not recommended for children?
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| dad-daughters's Full Review: Revolutionary Road |
"It's my dream!" "No, it's mine!" "You're not going to steal it from me"!" "I deserve it more than you!" Are these the words of our characters, Frank and April Wheeler, or are they the words of DiCaprio and Winslet between takes arguing over the Oscar nominations? It didn't take long before I began thinking that these actors, this director, and this screen adaption were trying for one thing, and one thing only: Academy Awards. Nevermind that the movie could just as well have been one long cigarette commercial, or that 1950's Americana is depicted as some type of evil aberration of human evolution, or that dreams of happiness and raising a family are portrayed as mutually exclusive.
Doctors should not operate on their family, and directors should think twice before directing their wives. Sam Mendes, who did an outstanding job with American Beauty, tries to coax a purse from a sow's ear with spouse, Kate Winslet. The proof is in the pudding, because the Academy snubbed the film with the ONLY oscar nomination for acting going to Michael Shannon. He plays John Givings, a mental patient who has been electro-shocked into a state of higher consciousness, and who, in his brief on-screen moments, shines brighter than any of the stars on the marquis. No nomination for directing either.
The other supportorting actors in this movie, including Kathy Bates (a busy body neighbor and real esate agent) and the neighbors, played by David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn (by the way, I thought Kathryn Hahn did a terrific job with her limited screen time) offer only limited support to the story.
The last time DiCaprio and Winslet were together, the ship sank. This one is also going down by the head because it does not really follow the traditional tragedy playbook. If you put the audience on a train and drive it into a tunnel, they will certainly experience the darkness, but they won't know why they arrived there. A classical definition of tragedy is that the main character(s) suffer misfortune which is undeserved, and in the end, we learn something from their suffering. Little of what happens in this film is "undeserved" and, more to the point, is self-inflicted. Yes, our main characters suffer the classic flaw of hubris, I suppose because they somehow believe they are better than everyone else, but that is not the reason for their downfall. Aristotle said the plot is the soul of the tragedy and this plot's soul is more like second-hand smoke.
Except for the terrific scenes involving the mental patient, two scenes really made an impression. The first was when the neighbor father walks into the room where is kids are watching Howdy Doody on TV. He says good morning twice, but the kids don't even acknowledge him. But again, it's a brief and incoherent message not associated with the rest of the story. The second was the final scene, where Kathy Bate's husband, who relies upon a hearing aid, has learned how to deal with his reality by simply turning it off. That cynical smile on his face was telling, but then we fade to black and the ending credits.
The film telegraphed the ending and as soon as my wife and I saw April behaving like a Stepford Wife the morning following the most viscious verbal exchange in the entire movie, we both looked at each other and knew what was next. The hospital scene failed to evoke any pathos for Frank Wheeler's suffering at the loss of his wife in either of us.
The story line has some oddities. Frank has an affair with an office secretary, but it adds nothing to the overall story, so why include it? The wife and I felt the same about that secretary's "accidental" dropping of her bedsheet, giving us a full frontal topless shot. Why? Maybe so the teenage boys who sneak into the film will tell their friends? If so, it's a stupid marketing tool because those kids will theater hop anyway and not pay for a ticket. April has an affair with her next door neighbor in the front seat of the car, but it also offers nothing to the story. Add the fact that the Wheeler children seem to disappear at key times, such as during the big blowup fights between their parents, and thus you have a disjointed screenplay. The beginning of the movie includes some flashbacks, but they are edited without transition in such a way that you become confused as to when they start or stop.
Now my soapbox. I worry about the bad messages that abound in this movie. Our heroine loves to tell her husband she "does not want to talk about it". There's a great suggestion for marital stability. She passively-aggressively gives him the cold shoulder, and if he tries to get her to express her feelings, she finds new ways to treat him like dirt. On the other hand, our hero is totally unable to express himself for more than 60 seconds without flying into a rage that borders on physical abuse. Those old cars are built to some serious specifications, so punching the roof is likely to break a bone. But punching the body of a car is a veiled threat of punching another type of body, and while dramatic, it's not the same as emoting through acting ability. In this regard, while I very much liked DiCaprio and Winslet in Titanic, they are not able to hold this film without a large and outstanding supporting cast like they had in that prior blockbuster. In short, they are no Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
For those that didn't read my review of "Pursuit of Happyness", I wrote that you pursue your dreams when you can, you make a living when you must, and you never endanger your children. It is not a "sellout" to do something you don't necessarily love when that sacrifice is for the benefit of your family. Men (and women) do it all the time and society benefits from the sacrifice. It's called "responsibility". If you want to be a beatnick on the left bank of Paris, go for it, but don't have kids. Few are lucky enough to have a job they love to do, but many find ways to love their work. Happiness comes not from something outside, but from the inside out. I couldn't help but feel some anti-American sentiment just bubbling under the surface, inviting us to mock American values. The 1950s were not a perfect time, but perfection lies only in the imagination. We make of our lives what we want, and if we want to be unhappy, then life will oblige us.
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Serious Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Cast
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Epinions.com ID:
dad-daughters
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Member: Dan
Location: Southern California USA
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 29 members
About Me:
Finally, my reviews outnumber my age...
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