Review: Revolutionary Road - "Everybody knows the truth, even if they've lived their whole life without it."

Everybody loves Frank and April Wheeler. The Wheelers are the best couple down on Revolutionary Road. There's just something special about them.

Public perception of the Wheelers doesn't quite match up with what goes on behind closed doors at their handsome Revolutionary Road home. Neither Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) nor April (Kate Winslet) are living the life they had imagined for themselves when they first met years earlier at a party. Frank is still figuring out what it is he wants for himself, and April is studying to be an actress. They have big dreams, dreams that do not include suburbia. When April becomes pregnant, she and Frank get married and decide to settle down, at least for a little while. They are in love, and realtor Helen Givings (Kathy Bates) has found a charming home in the suburbs for them to live in. They are hopeful that they can escape the traps of typical suburban life. After all, they have dreams and aspirations that go beyond Revolutionary Road, the suburbs, and Connecticut.



Years (and one child) later, Frank and April are still there, but have largely given up on the future they had always imagined and have resigned themselves to the typical man-woman, husband-wife, father-mother roles expected of them in 1955. Frank is in sales, working at the same company his father worked in -- a job and a company Frank vowed never to work when he was a child. April is a wife and a mother, and though she is a studied actress, she's stuck performing in bad productions at a local school. The tenor of their relationship has changed dramatically, which is summed up by Frank's first words to a devastated April after she stars in a disaster of a play: "Well it wasn't exactly a triumph, was it?"

Frank and April are trying to fit into their roles, predetermined by society at that time, but they are not cut out for it at all. As a result, they are punishing one another. Frank has insecurities about his own manliness, which is a button April knows to push, and so he grips onto his position as the head of the family. April, who is intelligent, determined, and independent, is stuck in a time where she really is not allowed to be intelligent, determined, and independent. This creates a huge imbalance in their relationship, and that imbalance is at the root of their problems.

Things change for them, though, when April suggests they move to Paris. Frank had been there years before, and had always wanted to go back. April believes it will give Frank the time he needs to figure out what, exactly, will make him happy, while she works as a secretary at a government office (you won't believe how much they pay for secretarial jobs over there!) and support them until he finds his calling. He agrees, and they set this plan in motion.

They are happy again.

The reactions to their news from Frank's coworkers and their neighbors, Shep and Milly Campbell (David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn), are tepid, at best. Frank's colleagues don't believe they'll go through with it, and don't even bother acting supportive like the Campbells, who put on an encouraging front but agree that it's immature and childish when they are alone. Frank and April don't care, and laugh together at the people who don't believe them.

They even get some reinforcement when Helen Givings introduces them to her son, John Givings (Michael Shannon), a mathematician who was recently released from a mental institution. A self-described "certified lunatic," John Givings is a breath of fresh air for Frank and April. He is honest and forthright, able to see through the bullshit of 1950s suburban life and unafraid to point it out. They tell John that they want to escape the "emptiness and hopelessness" of their lives there, and John is stunned. It doesn't take much to see the emptiness, he says, but it takes real courage to acknowledge the hopelessness. Frank and April find the situation humorous; how is it that the only other person they've come across who understands their desire to leave Revolutionary Road is crazy?

Things start to change, though, when Frank is offered a promotion. Frank is bolstered by this newfound success at work, and coupled with his male colleagues questioning his decision to allow April to support him financially in Paris, he starts to feel uneasy about the move to Paris. He is finally starting to fit into his role as the man of the house, so why would he give that up for something new and completely unfamiliar?

Their happiness really starts to unravel when April reveals she is ten weeks pregnant with their third child. It's a pregnancy she sees as an inconvenience; it's not a child she truly wants, and the timing is terrible. April knows that having this baby will keep them stuck on Revolutionary Road. She expresses her desire to Frank to have an abortion, because it is safe to do until week twelve, but Frank is not on board.

The rest of the film really explores their very different feelings on this pregnancy (although Frank is able to use the pregnancy, rather than his raised status at work, as a reason to stay in Connecticut), and I would hate to give everything else away.

Revolutionary Road is a thought-provoking, intense film that is executed very well. I do have a couple of problems with the film as a whole. There are elements of the novel that just didn't translate very well to the screen. The pacing of the film didn't really work for me. Reading the book, I had a much better sense of the amount of time passing, as well as the ups and downs of their relationship. Condensed into a two hour film, the bitter arguing just gets exhausting. I also don't think the screenplay did enough to establish the characters of Frank and April or their relationship. Not enough emphasis was made on Frank's insecurities, which would have provided a better context for his behavior towards the end of the film, and I don't think enough emphasis went into April's dreams of being an actress. You know she's studied, you know she has performed in at least one play while living at Revolutionary Road, but I, personally, would have appreciated a little bit more exploration of her own dreams outside of her marriage and family. As a tacked on note: the score, by one of my favorite composers, Thomas Newman, is largely forgettable and doesn't add anything at all to the film.

With that said, I can't speak highly enough about the performances. Leonardo DiCaprio does the best work of his career as Frank Wheeler. He is unguarded and vulnerable, and goes all out on the charm and the insecurities simmering beneath the surface. Kate Winslet is as excellent as you would expect her to be. Together, they are perfect. It's clear they are friends and trust each other, because they are totally unrestrained during their arguments.

Michael Shannon as John Givings is a real highlight for me. He's just fantastic, it's a performance you really have to see to understand what I am talking about. He is only in two or three scenes, and while it's pretty understated performance, he dominates the screen every second he's on it. Kathy Bates as his mother, Helen, is very good, but she doesn't really have a lot to do in the film.

Director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins are a great team. I imagine Mendes didn't have to direct his leading actors all that much, but there is some brilliant camerawork here. For most of the movie, they have set up very still, very staged, very clean shots. When Frank and April have their biggest argument yet, towards the end of the film, they use handheld cameras, perfectly capturing the frantic and panicked nature of the scenes. Once it's over it's back to the very still, very staged, very clean shots. The lighting on April, towards the end of the film, really stood out to me as well. This is a beautifully shot film, no question.

Though there are a few problems with the film, it will get you thinking and talking and it definitely boasts some of the strongest acting of the year.

Grade: high B+ / low A-