Revolutionary Road

"Revolutionary Road" is basically a tale of existential angst and restlessness set in the mid-1950's suburbia as seen through the relationship between Frank and April Wheeler. April is initially shown to be the one with aspirations of being a great actress, but her talent betrays her ambitions, while Frank is simply floating through life from job to job, but such appearances of freedom appeals to April, and their chemistry results in marriage, 2 kids, and a house in the 'burbs (on Revolutionary Road, to be exact) where April finds the life unrewarding and stale as her acting ambitions have been squelched and she finds herself with a mundane life as a homemaker for their 2 children as Frank works in the city in a job that he also finds no joy or greater purpose through such employment.

Being a fan of AMC's "Mad Men", there are quite a lot of similarities explored on that show and this film, though "Mad Men" is buoyed by mild soap opera-ish storytelling in spots, but predominantly smart enough to find relevance for today by looking at yesteryear's dramatic events. "Revolutionary Road" uses the unease, the unrest felt by both Frank and April in their current lives to explore the question of "is this all there is" in living the great American life as they enter their 30's in age, it's a life filled with monotone and routine. April truly wants to live a much more exciting life, and Frank is initially onboard with such yearnings as well, and April's plan becomes their family roadmap until events make the plan infeasible, and Frank's worklife takes unexpected fortuitous turns, making him less amenable to April's plan, but he goes through the motions, almost dreading telling April of his reluctance because he is also stuck inside a box of sorts, and is all the more conflicted, bringing hurtful confrontations in scant months after their decision to give April's plan a go of it.

As the story plays out, rooting the film in the mid-1950s is what gives the poignancy and believability of the choices that characters make as it comes to its conclusion, as that time period imposed quite a few societal shackles on people in general that simply aren't as compelling had the story taken place just 10 years later, as the 1950's provided both a feeling of a promising future, while keeping the role of wives subordinate to their husband's station in life, with few avenues for advancement and control of their own destiny.

That being said, both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio deliver fine performances, and Michael Shannon (as John, the lunatic son of the lady who found the Wheeler's their house on Revolutionary Road, and ray of truth in few scenes that brings a mirror of their lives on the Wheelers) almost steals the show at times. Sam Mendes delivers more hits than misses in this directorial effort, but I'm not sure he should direct his wife in future films, just because I felt that Winslet's performance might have been even better in the hands of another talented director, but she still gives a nuanced and incisive performance in support of the screenplay. DiCaprio might have outshined Winslet, but that's a function of the screenplay and the nature of the story being told.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.