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Out 30th January 2009
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After keeping fans waiting for twelve long years for their on-screen reunion, there is no denying that this film is all about Kate and Leo. However, don’t go expecting another epic love story. Directed by the award-winning Sam Mendes, the man who brought us American Beauty, this is another beautiful tale of lost souls hiding behind the white picket fences of suburban America. Revolutionary Road is, undoubtedly, a brilliantly directed and acted film but it is not for those wanting to walk out of the cinemas feeling all ‘gooey’. This is strictly for those who are prepared to see a very real and very honest portrayal of two young lovers growing up and, somewhere along the way, loosing themselves, their dreams and, ultimately, each other.
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Adapted from the novel by Richard Yates, it basically poses the question that has been reverberating through relationships ever since time can remember: Can two people break away from ‘the ordinary’ without breaking apart?
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It’s 1955. Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) are in the seventh year of their marriage. After meeting as two idealistic young free spirits, they have now fallen into a life that appears to most as being perfect, but the reality is far from that. Now living in Connecticut suburbs with two young children, Frank works in an office job he hates, while April stays at home as a housewife, following her failed acting career. It is obvious from the start that they are both so angry with their own lives that they have become disgruntled with each other. So, April who is by far the most frustrated of the two, in an attempt to rejuvenate their life, suggests they move to Paris - a city Frank visited during the war and loved. April’s plan: She would be the breadwinner, getting a lucrative secretarial job for one of the major international organisations, while Frank would have free time to find himself. Initially sceptical, Frank ultimately agrees to April’s plan. But when circumstances change, April decides she will do whatever she has to, no matter who or what she hurts, to get herself out of her unhappy existence.
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Kate is outstanding and more than deserving of her praise, but it’s hard not to feel bad for the lack of recognition for Leo - he is simply exceptional, once again. Together, they are magical and compelling with a less obvious chemistry, due to the nature of their characters, but it is still there - you won’t help but be drawn into their pain and frustration. Credit must be given to Mendes, too, as he definitely pushed to get some extremely powerful performances from the duo. The rest of the cast sit nicely beside the two leads, and praise to them for some brilliant performances doing exactly what they are supposed to do: ’support’ the main characters.
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It is a typical Mendes film, presenting an intense and insightful look at the lives of suburbia in America in the 1950s. At times it is uncomfortable to watch, but non-the-less gripping as you watch their dreams and world fall apart.
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Splitting critics all over the shop, it is a captivating adaptation of Richard Yate’s novel, and a must see. But, be prepared for an unforgettable, harrowing story of a young couple’s American dream gone tragically wrong.
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By Rachel Baglin
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Synopsis
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Adapted from the revealing novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road is an incisive portrait of an American marriage seen through the eyes of Frank and April Wheeler.
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Frank and April have always seen themselves as special, different, ready and willing to live their lives based on higher ideals. So, as soon as they move into their new house on Revolutionary Road, they proudly declare their independence from the suburban inertia that surrounds them and determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era.
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Yet for all their charm, beauty and irreverence, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn’t expect: a good man with a meaningless job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy homemaker starving for fulfilment and passion; an American family with lost dreams, like any other.
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Driven to change their fates, April hatches an audacious plan to start all over again, to leave the comforts of Connecticut behind for the great unknown of Paris. But when the plan is put in motion, each spouse is pushed to extremes - one to escape whatever the cost, the other to save all that they have, no matter the compromises.
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Film Facts
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Official UK site: http://www.revolutionaryroadmovie.com/intl/uk/
UK Release Date: 30th January
Directors: Sam Mendes
Writers: Justin Haythe (screenplay) Richard Yates (novel)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (‘Frank Wheeler’), Kate Winslet (‘April Wheeler’), Michael Shannon (‘John Givings’), Kathy Bates (‘Mrs. Helen Givings’), Richard Easton (‘Mr. Howard Givings’), Kathryn Hahn (‘Milly Campbell’), David Harbour (‘Shep Campbell’).
UK Distributor: Paramount
Certificate: 15
Run-time: 119 mins
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Video on Real.com
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Trailer:
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Kate Winslet Interview:
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Leo DiCaprio Interview:
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Clips:
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