Sunday, June 7, 2009

Revolutionary Road - B+

As lawyer said, it’s a rough sit-through; Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet’s married couple fight the vast majority of the film. Their children are basically forgotten- so much so that when they’re mentioned, it’s unintentionally funny. But my main problem with the film is: Why is Paris the only solution? Why not just move back to New York City? Because that wouldn’t solve a thing (and neither would Paris). Kate’s April Wheeler is an unbelievably selfish and self-absorbed character. Leo’s character Frank is exactly right when he describes how crazy she is and accuses her of being an unfit mother. Obviously, (=>) Frank’s no saint, but it would seem April has emotionally and mentally castrated him at home. And as the “truth-speaker” and presumed insane John (played by the brilliant Michael Shannon) says, Frank doesn’t really feel like a man.
Which explains but does not excuse Frank’s infidelity. But could somebody explain April’s betrayal? Because she sucks at acting (April, not Kate)? She certainly feels trapped in the suburbs and “better” than her neighbors, but her actions are less sane than anything John could have done. I can understand smoking and drinking while you’re pregnant (it is the mid 1950s and most people didn’t know any better), but cheating in a car compulsively? Unforgivable. Which makes Leo’s performance toward the end all the more devastating. Does anyone believe April would have been such a great parent to her kids had an opposite, alternative scenario happened? Which brings us to Winslet - who received the Oscar last February for the wrong film. Her glances, hesitations, and posture give depth to her troubled character and the film could have been unwatchable in another actress’s hands. Just edging out Synecdoche, New York, Revolutionary Road is the best acted film of last year.Sam Mendes rebounds from Jarhead to deliver a well-framed, well-paced heavy drama. The 1955 setting is exquisitely recreated and Roger Deakins cinematography is beautiful as expected. It’s certainly one of the best put-together films of last year. The structure, taken from Richard Yates’s novel, is sublime. The couple’s decision to escape makes Leo relaxed at work which leads to his promotion. Their Paris decision also leads to a rekindled romance, which leads to the pregnancy and the unraveling of the whole thing. Yates’s worldview is exceedingly pessimistic and depressing to say the least, but the film will make you evaluate the institution of marriage like no other. Though stuck in the 50s, its themes seem even more appropriate and applicable today. The community’s response to the tragic events in the last few scenes is genius. B+

Final Top Ten of 2008
1. The Dark Knight
2. Let the Right One In
3. Synecdoche, New York
4. The Wrestler
5. Wall-E
6. In Bruges
7. Revolutionary Road
8. Man On Wire
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10. Happy-Go-Lucky

Runner-ups: Tropic Thunder, The Bank Job, Burn After Reading

2 comments:

Lawyer said...

Glad you liked it. Reading your review made me want to watch it again, and quick. I love, love, love the argument on the side of the road - "you're in a trap, you're in a trap". Too bad it was so hard to watch that it was criminally ignored at this year's super-weak Oscars. Some of the best quotes from John:

John Givings: Hopeless emptiness. Now you've said it. Plenty of people are onto the emptiness, but it takes real guts to see the hopelessness.

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John Givings: You want to play house you got to have a job. You want to play nice house, very sweet house, you got to have a job you don't like.

Doctor said...

It was in the "good/great films I'll never watch again" pile (like Requiem for a Dream or 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days) until Shep returns with the coffee at the hospital and the look on Leo's face was crushing. Then, they show what seemed to be, at first, unnecessary scenes with the other families but they added an unexpected layer about the compromises people make to keep their own marriages afloat. The hearing aid thing is a bit obvious and shouldn't have worked as well as it did. I loved it. Throw in a couple of more scenes with the kids and a brief comment about why they can't move back to NYC proper, and it'd be an A- easy.

It was frustrating that they couldn't work things out until you realize that April is miserable due to her failed career and takes it out on Frank. Then you start feeling bad for Frank and everything falls into place.

The commentary between Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe is insightful, funny, and intelligent- easily the best of the year to date.