Revolutionary Road

I was lucky to see Revolutionary Road a few days ago as it played at Camelview 5, the local theater to catch new oscar bait and independent films, and I have to say I was pretty impacted by its story of a couple dealing with the mediocre settings of life in suburbia in the late 50's and early 60's. The brilliant acting by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and the immaculate directing by Sam Mendez (American Beauty) are something to behold, but the real masterpiece of this movie is its script and story. In it there is so much to be said about many of the dreary and mediocre lives of American's who are finding themselves in messy marriages in overpopulated suburban communities drained of happiness and joy by the stresses of money and debt. Many of them have lost their ability to be unique, and having bought into the lies of a secure and happy lifestyle for their families, they now feel trapped in the confines of everyday life, unable to change its pace, its events, or its actors. Frank, Leo's character, finds himself stuck in a corporate mind-numbing job and is seen second guessing whether he will do anything more significant with the time he has on earth. He is shown in the beginning youthful and optimistic, with ideals and dreams that would take him around the world. Frank's wife April, is equally optimistic when their relationship blooms, but soon finds herself trapped in delusions of happiness on the streets of her neighborhood.

Mendez hits the mark with this suburban melodrama and will most likely cause discomfort to american's seeking escapism at the theater. Rather than allowing the audience to ignore their problems and leave their own mediocrity for a few hours by seeing a movie with that couple from Titanic, they are instead reminded of the same streets and homes and families that they wish to escape from. Just as American Beauty was able to sum up those forbidden suburban desires, Revolutionary Road taps into the heart of discontent with repetitiveness and the assault on uniqueness and individuality that is taking place in the towns and communities where we reside.

I highly recommend this movie and I definitely give my thumbs for any possible nominations and awards that will surely come its way. I was thinking I would be let down this award season with bland movies calculated by studios for noms and wins, but so far I have been surprised and affected by many of the movies up for the prizes and I hope people take the time and money to see them rather than that absurd aniston/wilson dog movie or that ridiculous disney movie with adam sandler (who seriously thinks that guy is funny anymore?). Whenever I see the weekend numbers, it is really disheartening to see those movies actually making money.