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"REVOLUTIONARY ROAD"
(2008) (Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet) (R)

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QUICK TAKE:
Drama: A 1950s era couple must contend with their unhappy marriage as well as unexpected developments that threaten to derail the wife's plan to save their relationship and make them happy.
PLOT:
It's the 1950s and Frank (LEONARDO DiCAPRIO) and April Wheeler (KATE WINSLET) seem to be like most any other married couple living in the Connecticut suburbs with two young kids. While April cares for Jennifer (RYAN SIMPKINS) and Michael (TY SIMPKINS) and has pretty much given up her dreams of being an actress, Frank works in Manhattan for a business machine company alongside the likes of Jack Ordway (DYLAN BAKER) and others who obviously don't have much passion for their jobs. Yet, Frank certainly has the latter for office secretary Maureen Grube (ZOE KAZAN) with whom he's having an affair.

And that's because his marriage to April is anything but rosy. She's unhappy that her life on Revolutionary Road is obviously headed toward a dead end, and the couple often engage in heated arguments, unlike their neighbors and friends, Millie (KATHRYN HAHN) and Shep Campbell (DAVID HARBOUR). The latter obviously has a thing for April, but nothing has come of that, and April can't stand the thought of living a life like the smiling and subservient Millie.

Accordingly, she proposes that she and Frank move to France and start anew. That idea takes their real estate agent, Helen Givings (KATHY BATES), by surprise, as she hopes that the young couple might help her and her husband, Howard (RICHARD EASTON), re-socialize their adult son, John (MICHAEL SHANNON), a once promising mathematician sidelined by mental illness.

Yet, as they prepare for an overhaul of their lives that April hopes will save their marriage, a number of unexpected developments, including from Frank's big boss, Bart Pollack (JAY O. SANDERS), threaten to derail their plans and hopes for newfound happiness.

OUR TAKE: 6 out of 10
The last time we saw them together, it took hubris, an iceberg, and the icy waters of the North Atlantic to do in their love, or at least that of their onscreen counterparts. But even then, as the last scene played out with the power ballad driving home the point, we learned that their romance would live on forever.

Oh, what a difference a change in setting and a little more than a decade in real time and forty-some years in that of fiction can make for one of the most awaited romantic reunions in the history of cinema. Yes, we're talking about Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in their first film together since making box office history in 1997's "Titanic." For those expecting the two to take up where they left off, it might be best to sit home, listen to a little Celine and think about the good ol' days.

And that's because while there might be icy conditions (flowing through veins as well as in terms of a chilly relationship) and the adjective "titanic" might come to mind (interestingly enough, also related to sinking, both in terms of resignation of one's place in the world as well as regarding a marriage going down), "Revolutionary Road" is about as far from the unadjusted box office champ as one can imagine.

Some of that, of course, stems from the fact that Ms. Winslet has brought along her husband this time, and you know how things can get testy regarding past loves and relationships. Actually, the presence of Sam Mendes is more notable due to his previous examination of unhappily married suburbanites in "American Beauty," an Oscar winning picture in its own right from back in 1999.

Here, the director and screenwriter Justin Haythe have taken another view of just that in adapting Richard Yates' 1961 novel of the same name. Not being familiar with that literary work, I can't make any novel to movie comparisons, but can state that while the film looks great and features strong performances, we've seen this sort of story before. And without any real sort of creative flourishes (beyond some jumping around in time and a funny, if somewhat too on-the-nose supporting observer character), the pic ends up being a fairly dreary and ultimately redundant experience.

In short, we see the 1950s era couple bickering, then getting along (including for a brief if furious sex scene), then fighting again and so on. While that's how many a couple exists in real life, the alternating switches here feel a bit too contrived. Granted, had the filmmakers given us reason to care about the characters, one's reaction to their ups and downs, as well as Kate's character obviously being stuck in and wanting out of her domestic housewife rut, the overall experience might have possessed more emotional resonance.

But beyond a brief scene where the characters initially meet, we're otherwise thrown headfirst into obviously troubled waters, thus preventing our hearts from getting into the action. Accordingly, we clearly understand their emotions on an intellectual level, but aren't given the time or opportunity to connect with them. Sure, there are all sorts of deeper thematic elements in play (most notably that of the dawning of women's lib, hence, one assumes, the choice of title), but they too work above the shoulders and not down in one's chest.

Without that, there's empathy but little to no sympathy (beyond whatever any given viewer might bring to the table through their own experiences). As a result, one might appreciate the work that's gone into the work, but many (including yours truly) may not be moved by most of it. In fact, the seesaw relationship becomes repetitive enough that viewers will likely welcome the arrival of Michael Shannon who plays a mathematician turned just-released psychiatric patient.

Beyond serving as a symbol himself, he's there as the ironic voice of reason, the guy who outwardly says what others in the film (and likely many a viewer) are thinking inside. Sure, the character and his actions are a contrivance, but Shannon infuses the part with so much edgy sarcasm that he's a blast to watch.

Kathy Bates (yes, another "Titanic" alum) plays his mother, the busybody real estate agent who doesn't see or just overlooks the married protagonists' problems, while Kathryn Hahn and David Harbor play another married couple that both mirrors and contrasts the main characters' relationship.

What might be most striking, however, is that the kid characters played by Ryan Simpkins and Ty Simpkins are rarely seen. The result is that they don't have much effect on - or are affected by - the sparring parents and their decidedly vocal battles.

While Mendes gets good performances out of everyone, and the film will likely go down as one of the "better" portrayals of a nasty marriage, this feels somewhat like reheated leftovers for the director. A little suburban unhappiness, disillusion and depression go a long way, be that near, far, or wherever you are. Good but not great, "Revolutionary Road" rates as a 6 out of 10, but it's a chilly and chilling experience, even without the iceberg.




Reviewed December 1, 2008 / Posted January 2, 2009


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