Film: Revolutionary Road

[tribal girl]

director: Sam Mendes

cast:

Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Wheeler
Kate Winslet as April Wheeler
Kathy Bates as Helen Givings
Kathryn Hahn as Milly Campbell
Michael Shannon as John Givings
Zoe Kazan as Maureen Grube
David Harbour as Shep Campbell

trailer
imdb

April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job, and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.

Looks quite good to me. Sam Mendes, check. Leonardo, check. Kate, check. Ms. Bates, check.

 

[tribal girl]

Not even one sympathetic post.

 

[L2R]

i like sam mendes

that poster does nothing to attract my attention besides the names

 

[tribal girl]

True.

There's just something about it which doesn't seem 'official'.

 

[Evad]

I don't think that poster is an official one, it's terrible! The shot of leonardo looks like one from titanic or something and the one of winslet looks like a pap shot.
This one is better/real hah

 

[eon_blue]

I'm having a hard time writing a description of this film's plot that would do it the right amount of justice. All I can really say is that it's a 1950s American Beauty-esque story; an incredibly eerie, insightful look into the monotanous lives of a couple living out the good ol' american dream, until one day they wake up all but incapacitated by the monotony brought on by our culture yet ultimately horrified of what it would mean to have to escape.

Great (eerie) soundtrack and cinematography, and as usual DiCaprio and Winslet bring their characters to life.

I saw it last night and I'm still depressed (meaning the film was good).

5/5.

 

[His Name Is Frank]

Merged

Merged with TG's exisiting post.

 

[TheSpade]

It's an OK film, not really much more to say about it than that really. It held my attention almost all the way through but it's nothing special. Decent enough story I guess.

Finding it difficult to really say much about it.

 

[tribal girl]

Finally got around to watching this after kinda going off the idea of it for a while.

Strong performances throughout, which kept me fixated. But nowhere near as riveting as I'd hoped from two of my favourite actors. In fact, the first scene which really affected me emotionally didn't occur until the 80 minute mark. Good, but certainly not the best thing either of them have done.

 

[Prodigycan]

i hated this movie, probably Caprio's worst movie. Can u think of something more bad by Caprio?

 

[TheDeceased]

^more bad?

Wonderful movie. Incredibly well acted and scripted. Some beautiful lines. Made me cry. Gave me shivers. Made me reconsider my life.

5/5

 

[Care]

I liked it.

It was interesting how the couple was admired by others as the perfect couple, yet were just as miserable as everyone else. Makes you think about what really brings you happiness in life.

However.

Not really my type of story, and not my favorite movie by Dicaprio. I usually prefer slightly more diversity in a movie than a drama exclusively between two characters.

3/5

 

[AmorRoark]

I really really liked it. 4.5/5

 

[PureLife]

4/5

I thought it was a fine production. Great acting, and an on point script. Other than that I wasn't really that captivated. I was going to give it a 3.5/5, but a four better suited it. The acting really brought out that last half star.

 

[mariacallas]

^more bad?

Wonderful movie. Incredibly well acted and scripted. Some beautiful lines. Made me cry. Gave me shivers. Made me reconsider my life.

True. True. True. True. Caught this last night on HbO...I was riveted from
beginning till end and the movie stayed with me long after the credits rolled (how fantastic was the score and music in this movie? ) It had a similar effect on me as The Hours....and y'all know how much I loved that one.
Four stars. I will be getting the DVD !!!

I just adore this picture.

 

[Kenickie]

I was glad to have read it before seeing the film, but I think a lot of the metaphors I adored in the novel came through well in the movie.

 

[psood0nym]

I thought this was a great film, totally depressing, but a great film. As someone who still hasn't figured out his life and is fond of pointing out the delusions of people's material and social ambitions -- the whole prescribed highly productive way of life, really -- it helped me to rationalize my laziness and indecisiveness regarding a career as a good thing. Four out of five.

 

[AmorRoark]

I love that pic MC.

 

[mariacallas]

^^ Super.
Love the score...so haunting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otca_YkACU0&feature=related

 

[|>R()|)!G/-\|_]

What a great film. My wife and I watched it together and I think it had an especially strong emotional impact b/c we've had some of those fights and discussions in our own home. I felt like the dialogue, direction, acting, score, and cinematography were powerful. It was interesting how the Wheelers, their neighbors, and Kathy Bates' families all represented the intergenerational dysfuntion found in many families but typically hidden behind closed doors in suburban America. My favorite character was actually Kathy Bates' son, John. His scenes brought a weird juxtaposition of drama and comic relief. My only criticism/question is "Where are the Wheelers' kids during a majority of the movie?"