Kate Winslet Film Festival Day Two (SPOILERS for "Revolutionary Road")

[snurri]

I wasn't expecting all that much from Revolutionary Road, frankly. Watching the trailer I felt like I knew exactly what the movie was going to be, thematically, and mostly that was the case. You know what I mean; it's a film about The Sacrifices We Make, for stability, for love, for children. There's also a bit of We Were Supposed to Be Different in there, and a dollop of Work Without Passion Will Kill Your Soul. We can argue about how valid any of those themes are, but the primary problem is that they are very, very familiar themes, one might almost say worn out. Note that I'm talking about the film, here, and not the novel by Richard Yates, which I have not read. I am perfectly willing to believe that the source material was deeper and more subtle. There are hints of this in DiCaprio and Winslet's performances, that really their disillusionment is not with the world but with themselves. This is the We Were Supposed to Be Different theme, the more interesting of the above, but the film itself is coy about confronting it, mostly leaving it up to the leads to bring it forth. Which they are perfectly able to do--Kate and Leo are both at full strength in this picture, spinning apart in spectacular fashion--but they are forced to do so by transcending the material, which means somewhere along the line someone fell down on the job. Scenes with Michael Shannon as the institutionalized son of the couple's realtor provide welcome relief from the melodrama, as he bears vocal witness to their last-ditch attempt at escape and its inevitable unraveling. His scenes are the only part of the film that doesn't feel at least a bit rote; every other step of the fall is telegraphed, making the film feel far longer than its two-hour running time, and not in a good way.

Comments

[yuki-onna.livejournal.com]

When my guy read the synopsis to me I said "NO. The suburbs suck? And there is a film which will finally illuminate this criminally unexamined issue? I REFUSE TO BELIEVE YOU."

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

bwaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha

[snurri.livejournal.com]

FINALLY someone is ready to tell THE TRUTH about our wretched modern lives!

[yuki-onna.livejournal.com]

Did you know that in the 50s life sucked MORE and was not completely awesome as we have been led to believe?

[colonelrowe.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of just Netflixing She's Having a Baby instead. I'm betting this movie doesn't have XTC, Marvin Gaye, Love and Rockets, Kirsty MacColl, OR Kate Bush on the soundtrack.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

John Hughes is almost always a good move; our family watches Christmas Vacation every year. You probably heard my mom laughing all the way from Lexington.

[czakbar.livejournal.com]

Oh this is too bad. I thought it was supposed to be about the huge movement from urban life to suburban life in the 50s. I was hoping they wouldn't lose the historical/sociological thread of all that. Bah.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Mm, there was the expected indictment of middle-class conformity, but historical and sociological depth was pretty much lacking.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for saving me about $10!

[snurri.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!