Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road. Sean Nelson wrote a piece on MSN about the worst Oscar winners. He wrote that Sam Mendes was the least deserving Best Director Oscar winner for his work on American Beauty. He also wrote that Revolutionary Road is “torpid” – dull. Now personally, I liked American Beauty. And I personally liked Revolutionary Road. I would admit (Sean Nelson states that American Beauty shows a "shallow" side of suburban America) that Sam Mendes appears to have a grunge against suburbia. I don’t know why this is. I don’t know much about him. Perhaps he grew up in the suburbs or perhaps he’s just a snob. I don’t know. With that said, Revolutionary Road follows the lives Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler. The movie starts with them meeting at a house party - in the city. It then jumps ahead an unknown number of years. They’re married. Have two children. Live on Revolutionary Road in Connecticut suburbia. Frank works at a dead end job in New York.

Their marriage has crumbled. April fell in love with Frank, because he seemed like a person who wanted to find himself, live a life of adventure. She didn’t see herself living life in suburbia. She didn’t see herself married to a person who had a desk job. This tension in their marriage causes Frank to start up an affair with a young lady in the secretary pool.

April presses for change. She suggests that they move off to Paris. Frank needs a little convincing, but eventually agrees. Their marriage seems to repair itself and then it all falls apart again. Feeling less pressure to perform at his job, Frank suddenly blossoms at work. He is offered a promotion. April finds out that she is pregnant. With the promotion, it seemed to me that Frank suddenly found his calling. This wasn’t the calling that April had hoped for and so she didn’t want to accept this outcome. She suggests they continue with their plan and that perhaps she should get an abortion, but Frank finds the idea of an abortion abhorrent. She found the two of them on two separate roads. He now wanted to stay in Corporate America and be the bread winner for his growing family; while she still wanted the life of adventure. April once again discovers that she can’t stand being around her husband.

April finds herself having a brief rendezvous with a next door neighbor (who is also married.) Both of them have now had affairs. I think each has an affair for different reasons. I think April has an affair to escape the present. Frank has an affair because he wants to feel like a man that a woman holds in esteem.


I will also write this about Frank. He is a cruel man who twists facts to hurt his wife. His emotional abuse leads to the below outcome.

Spoiler Alert. The last part of the movie actually reminded me of a recent episode of Battlestar Galactica. Can you believe that? Comparing Revolutionary Road to Battlestar Galactica? In Revolutionary Road, April screams bloody murder at Frank. They have a huge, ballistic fight. The next morning, Frank comes down to the kitchen. There is April, dressed with a smile and preparing orange juice. The kids are off at the neighbors. She has a great breakfast prepared. She indicates that this is to celebrate the start of Frank’s new job. And then as soon as Frank leaves, she attempts an abortion – which she is attempting after 12 weeks. (I guess self-induced abortions have a better chance of success before 12 weeks. I’m no expert on this, but this is a discussion point in the movie.) As she is having an abortion after 12 weeks, she is essentially risking suicide. Why does this remind me of Battlestar Galactica? In the episode called “Sometimes a Great Notion” Dee and Apollo have an awesome date. This is after the disappointment of learning that Earth was destroyed by nukes and that they must continue their search for a homeland. Dee apparently wants to live the perfect day. She wants to feel like she did before when she and Apollo were first dating. And then she commits suicide. I got the same feeling about April. She wanted to have a morning where she was once again in love with Frank. And then she committed suicide.

The honest truth is that this is one devastating movie. You’re depressed from about minute five onwards until the end -- that is you feel some joy when they live in the city, but depression when they move to the suburbs. But I was also engrossed in the movie. I know that all people don’t grow up bored to death in suburbia like Sam Mendes would like us to believe. I don’t believe that people have unfulfilled lives living in suburbia. On the other hand though, I’m sure some people do feel trapped in life and Sam Mendes is making films that focus on these individuals. I suspect Revolutionary Road is about the lives of artists, adventurers who compromise in life and find out that they regret it.

I’ll admit I’m disappointed that Revolutionary Road did not get nominated for Best Picture. In my opinion, this movie is so much better than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Of course, if you happen to read my review on Benjamin Button you’ll see that I hated that picture. Oh well. I guess my hate of Benjamin Button is similar to Sean Nelson’s hate of Revolutionary Road.

In regards to Oscars: I think both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet deserved Oscar nods for their performances.