January 21, 2009: Revolutionary Road
The Half-Assed Movie Reviews reader might have noticed a lack of recent reviews. I only recently realized that this is because I’ve been stuck on the review of Revolutionary Road for weeks now. I keep returning to it, only to bang out a few words, and on one occasion I even had to abandon it mid-word, because what I thought about this movie just wouldn’t gel.
So what I need to do here is write a very short review to get it out of the way. I realized today that while I thought I enjoyed Revolutionary Road at the time, almost every movie I’ve seen since this one has been better.
Revolutionary Road reunites Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio 11 years after their famous pairing in Titanic, now playing a thirtysomething couple in the early 1960s struggling with the meaning of life in suburbia. They decide that there are no rules in life, they are not destined to this dull pattern of living, and they will move to Paris with the kids and live a fulfilling life. Cold feet set in as Leo gets close to quitting his job while seeing promotions and money and perks start to come his way, and Kate resents him changing his mind.
I could talk about director Sam Mendes and how this is a huge disappointment compared with his other suburban dystopian film, American Beauty, Best Picture winner from 1999. I could talk about how Kate Winslet thanked Leo before she thanked her husband (and director of the film) Sam Mendes in her Golden Globe acceptance speech for Best Actress. I could talk about how the TV show Mad Men springs from the same source, and what I think of that show. I could talk about Kate Winslet’s restrained performance, and Leo ranging all over the place, totally appropriate to his character.
But I’m not going to bother.
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