I’ve been waiting for another great Sam Mendes movie since I discovered the beauty of American Beauty back in 1999.  I was intrigued by the unique look of the film when I first saw the trailer, and indeed Mendes works well with the period piece: the film takes place in the suburban 50′s.

Most interesting and noteworthy about the film, however, isn’t the art direction, although that is very well done; it is the brutal truthfulness that pervades the film.  Revolutionary Road is replete with moments that make you want to turn it off, but not in a bad way.  The gruesome arguments that Frank and April Wheeler (played with reality and passion by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) have throughout Revolutionary Road are so striking because they are utterly real.  They are exactly the kind of arguments that couples have, and in the first two-thirds of the film at least, it seems that both sides of the arguments are equally valid so that both Frank and April are equally sympathetic.

My only real complaint with the film was that this quality, something that I am always delighted with, that both sides of the war are even and even justified, doesn’t really last.  About two-thirds into the movie, the sympathy factor begins to lean more towards April than Frank, and in the climactic and wonderfully dramatic peak of the film, one cannot help but empathize with April while hating Frank.  In the end, we feel sympathy for Frank, but only after the tragedy that the tense plot leads to.  I loved the fact that both sides were equal up until some point, and was disappointed to watch the balance change.

However, this doesn’t take away much from the film.  Of particular note is the character of John Givings, a mentally unstable adult son of the perfect old married couple that lives in the Wheeler’s neighborhood.  He is played spectacularly by Michael Shannon, and he completely deserves his Oscar nomination.  He plays the role of Shakespeare’s ever present fool: he is the crazy person, but only perhaps in the sense that he says what everyone else wouldn’t dare mention; he doesn’t just point on the elephant in the room, he rides it around and forces it to destroy all in its path.

Conclusion

A very good film. Not an uplifting film, but extremely truthful, a very well done exploration of non-conformity and the consequences of a society that places more on manners, money, and tradition than on creativity and individuality.

For: Those who can handle the truth.  Those who wish to dissuade their significant others from marriage.

Not For: Those who don’t like confrontation.  Those who wish for standard melodrama.

• Info: IMDb
• Watch: Youtube Trailer
• Tickets: Fandango