Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road movie review: In 1955 Connecticut, high expectations for life in the ‘burbs has turned to disappointment for Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet), parents of two who now resent each other like mad. The couple plans to solve all their problems by moving to Europe, but they find that leaving isn’t as easy as it sounds. Co-starring Kathy Bates as Frank and April’s realtor and Michael Shannon as the realtor’s son, a mental patient who blurts out his perception of Frank and April’s problems in a way that most couples probably don’t usually experience.

The buzz: DiCaprio and Winslet resurface together for the first time since the “Titanic” sunk. Anyone think it’s a bit odd that the film is directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”)? Aside from the weirdness associated with of having your spouse watch you pretend to get it on, what does it say if they tell you they’ve got a part that’s just right for you -- in a drama about married people drifting apart?

The verdict: “Revolutionary Road” offers a nice, restrained depiction of the period -- Mendes doesn’t scream, “This! Is! The! ‘50s!” -- and the performances capture two people consumed by their own disintegrating happiness. But the film’s also another tale about how suburban domesticity is miserable simply because it’s marriage and it’s the suburbs, without any actual analysis of why people feel limited and how they get from marital bliss to communication-free misery with two kids and a mortgage. The most interesting takeaway is when and why people consider being impulsive and content to be something childish. The depressing idea -- reiterated in the oddly tuned and pessimistic finale -- is that settling down sucks just because it does. And what’s never addressed is why people who think the grass is always greener struggle so hard to look at their own lawn. Source: Metromix

Box Office: Revolutionary Road has earned $22.9 million at the domestic box office and $51.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $74.6 million.

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• Official movie site: Revolutionary Road
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