Revolutionary Road, based on the classic bestseller by Richard Yates, is the story of the slow and painful dissolution of a marriage that was once so exciting, but has now degraded into a stagnant mess. April (Kate Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) seem to have it all. They have a beautiful home in Connecticut where they are raising their 2.5 children (ok, so the .5 child comes a bit later), some fun friends that they hang out with and Frank is a company man at Knox, working his way up the ladder. Sure, he commutes to New York every day for work and has flings with a secretary at the office, even sleeping with her while April and the children await his arrival for his birthday celebration. But things are still pretty good, aren't they? Meanwhile, April feels her life is a complete waste, having once been an exciting and aspiring actress in New York, now simply a failed actress (even at Connecticut Little Theater) and a boring housewife.
But April is a woman with a plan - inject some excitement back into their lives by moving to Paris! She can get a job as a secretary with the government and make a mint and they can live off of their savings while Frank figures out what to do with his life. It's a perfect plan and Frank is all in, at least, until they discover that April is pregnant. Then Knox offers Frank an incredible job promotion and that, combined with the impending baby, causes him to decide they should stay put.
April falls into complete depression, wanting to terminate the pregnancy. Her desperation at her pitiful life causes her to sleep with their neighbor and Frank's best buddy, Shep (David Harbour). Eventually, how pathetic Frank and April are is brought to light by a friend's mentally unstable son, John (Michael Shannon). When Helen (Kathy Bates) and her husband, Howard (Richard Easton), bring John to meet Frank and April one evening for dinner, an argument starts and ends with John calling Frank and April out for what they truly are - shells of what they once were, hiding behind their suburban facade. They truly are a pair of people "leading lives of quiet desperation." When April and Frank are faced with the reality of their lives, it causes them to make drastic choices.
Yes, the acting in Revolutionary Road is superb. Both Winslet and DeCaprio turn in fantastic performances. However, it also seemed as though they were over-acting a bit at times, almost like they were acting like great actors, if that makes any sense. They were fairly believable in their roles, for most of the time, however. But what I didn't like were the characters themselves. Both April and Frank Wheeler were completely unlikeable people, ones which deserved no sympathy. They have great kids, a lovely home, Frank has a good job and they have what it takes to make their lives wonderful. Instead, they are both incredibly selfish and choose to turn on one another. Therefore, I just didn't enjoy watching these people pick one another apart until they were both completely destroyed.
The special features include commentary by Winslet's husband and the film's director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe, which was interesting, but didn't make me enjoy the movie any more than I did. There were also a handful of deleted scenes, which actually helped to enlighten me a bit, plus a making-of featurette. The cinematography was excellent and the period settings were spot-on. Overall, I just disliked the characters and hence, the film itself. Again, Winslet and DiCaprio did an amazing job, as did Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon and Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers), who played friend and neighbor Milly perfectly. This movie just wasn't for me. I don't like the idea of being depressed throughout a movie, only to have the ending be one of absolute desperation and sadness.
