Revolutionary Road (2008)

I went to see this at an advanced screener in Leicester Square last night. Kate Winslett chatted about the film on stage afterward. I went as one of those people who'd read the book and consider that source material to be amongst the best literature I'd ever read. I was wondering if and how the film could match up. My prior concerns were about how accurate the film would be. Well, there's nothing to worry about there. Mendes has created a near carbon copy of the book, the locations, characters and scenes are all exactly as I 'saw' them on the page. Nothing (as far as I could tell) is portrayed out of order, no extra characters are introduced, and no primary characters are dropped or altered. The acting is 100% perfect. The mies-en-scene is perfect. Absolutely nothing could or should have been done differently. So why not 10/10? The problem lies in the fact that Yates' novel is a literary one, much of the essence of the experience of the story is realized by Yates with just the right turn of phrase or choice of word. How does a director set about depicting or capturing this visually? I don't think he really can, he needs to use cinematic tricks and devices to inject resonance, the same resonance Yates achieves with that turn of phrase. But in being so (probably rightly) concerned about being true to the source material, the film somehow comes up a little flat as a film going experience, a sort of American Beauty without the crucial stylistic bells and whistles. Kate Winslett said afterward that (interestingly) it was she who had brought the book and the project to her husband, not vice versa and that it took some consideration for Sam Mendes to convince himself that he hadn't already told this story before, and by the final credits, I too was thinking just that, it felt like I'd watched a prequel to American Beauty, but without the pizazz and the rapture and the delight. So, the book, 10/10, the film, 8/10.

Fmovies: A show-stopping Leonardo DiCaprio becomes Frank Wheeler, with remarkable power and an insight we only get from the greatest kind of actors. Allowing the audience to become fully immersed in his psyche, letting us feel everything with him. Living his pain, resentment, and the smörgåsbord of emotions in between. It is a highly accomplished piece of acting from the lead actor that I cannot imagine being ignored come this award season. Frank is a flawed man that many people will be able to see aspects of themselves in. Not being satisfied with marriage, family, work. Feeling we are meant or destined for something greater, yet paradoxically feeling the doubt and insecurity in ourselves to really go after it. He's depressed, has a past he can't seem to let go of, he's arrogant, he's a liar, he's manipulative and in many ways immature. Yet we know him. He's our father growing up, he's a brother, friend or possibly even you. He makes mistakes and is almost embarrassingly human. What I found ultimately tragic about him was not the way in which he lied to others but the way in which he lied to himself. Leo DiCaprio uses his expressive face to brilliant effect as Frank. He was terrific in "Aviator" , "Blood Diamond", "This Boy's Life" and others and has rightfully earned his place as one of the finest actors of his generation. Having said that, this is a whole new layer to DiCaprio that none of us have seen before. He brings a new, mature type of authentic subtlety to his craft. He doesn't resort to any big physical transformation. It's all internal. This is a new height for him, and easily the greatest acting of his career. A performance of great emotional intensity and depth that I can say without hesitation, will be remembered for generations to come.

Kate Winslet plays April Wheeler with a sharp fervor. She is angry, depressed and intensely believes she and Frank are destined for something greater than a life of conformity in the burbs. She is a tragic character in that she is basically a closed book, she shuns the love that people try to give her, she is a free spirit and quite the handful. She comes up with an idea to break free of the conformity she shares with her husband in an attempt to revive their marriage and at first it seems to work - the passion for life and each other reignited. But after an unexpected event and other factors, will the dream plan go through?

The chemistry between Winslet and DiCaprio in "Revolutionary Road" reminded me in many ways of the chemistry between Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1966 film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". They create an intensity in their arguments that is electric and palpable. You cannot take your eyes off them, they glue you to the screen and stick it to each other as sharply as the couple from "Virginia Woolf" were able to. Frank and April's story is grounded in a greater, more painful reality, however. DiCaprio's raging sobs are chilling.

The film is very dark. And the honesty practically guts you in some cases, so I don't think everyone will love it. Watching it was emotionally draining. Sam Mendes certainly did his job well here. It's his greatest film since "American Beauty".

Revolutionary Road is not a very joyful film, or is it easy to watch. Instead of being simply entertaining, it achieves what not many films these days do. It wants to be a learning lesson.

This film is superbly crafted, in both the writing and the amazing direction by Sam Mendes. After his great film 'American Beauty', he comes back with strong will to do this project. His direction is the best of the year for sure. It feels so professional, so alive. The writing, both of the characters, Frank and April Wheeler, I feel they are so open and 3-dimensional characters, but the screenplay wants to let us inside their lives, and it does so with great passion. Leonardo Dicaprio plays Frank with such intensity, with such force. Dicaprio gives his best performance here without a doubt, since I don't really think he has ever done something like this before. Then there is Kate Winslet. My favorite actress, and certainly one of the most talented out there. Winslet has surprised me before in a lot of movies, but here, she surprises me in a whole other way. Her silent, unlikeable, and sometimes human and cold portrayal of April Wheeler is one of the best performances of the decade. She gives the best female performance of the year, and I truly hope she finally wins the Oscar she deserves.

The film itself is so beautiful, so alive, yet at the same time, so dark to what the film is about. The cinematography is amazing, as well as the costumes and the whole set designs. The music, the original score, was so unsettling, perfectly balanced to what each scene brought.

Revolutionary Road is not a film for everyone. I can definitely see some critics will hate it, but it should certainly be respected, for its ambition, for the things it accomplishes and every thing it portrays. I think this is Mendes' masterpiece. I have not seen a better made film this year.

Revolutionary Road fmovies. I saw an advance screening of Revolutionary Road in Beverly Hills, CA this evening (December 14th). A Q&A session followed the screening with Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn, and screenwriter Justin Haythe. Photos from the Q&A are attached to this report.

Revolutionary Road is a story that you won't be able to shake easily. The film will stick in your head and leave you to contemplate what has just happened on the screen before you. Richard Yates gives us the story of Frank and April Wheeler, the seemingly perfect suburbia couple. We soon find out their marriage is teetering on the edge of a collapse as they are overwhelmed by the fact that they have each made the wrong choices in their lives.

Once again Kate Winselt and Leonardo DiCaprio come together with great chemistry, pulling the best out of each other. This is a heavy film with emotionally complex characters, I'm not sure I could think of any two actors that could pull off the roles of Frank and April Wheeler like Leonardo and Kate did.

"Truth is usually in singular - Lies always come in plural." I'm not sure who said that, but it is a notion that sums up this film.

Michael Shannon shinned in his role as the clinically insane son of Kathy Bates character; John Givings. Bates and Shannon both deliver humorous scenes to this heavy storyline, although there are times when you see the sadness and desperation in their characters as well. Michael Shannon's character, John Givings, is the truth in this film. Although clinically insane, he can see through everyone's lies and does the unthinkable; he forces everyone face their own truth.

I guarantee you will not be singing "My Heart Will Go On" after seeing this film. But you won't be disappointed with this little film gem.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were the incentive of my going to see this film, and I could not be more convinced of their talent than I am after the two-hour brilliance.

This film is reality in its purest, yet magnificently artistic form – the anger that is portrayed repetitively and in various occasions reminded me of the wrath I myself occasionally experience, from the overture of an argument to its climax; the screaming, the furious need to verbally and physically harm, punch, kick, no matter how much affection is felt towards the recipient. Even during the scenes that are meant to be tranquil, there is anxiety and tension hidden in their smiles, a sort of counterfeit politeness that should never be present in a happy relationship.

It is all a depiction of two genuine lives that have the potential of existing in complete harmony, yet cannot because of the stereotypical environment and situation they find themselves in. They both crave change, an alteration in their monotonous state of being, but because of the lengthy period of time that they have spent in such a circumstance, their mentality is differently modified. April (Kate Winslet) finds unreserved determination to leave to Paris and although her character seems at times erratic, we gradually come to understand that she is in fact the stronger personality of the two; she truly finds change favorable, whereas Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) seems to find the idea of change more flattering than change itself.

Each choice a person makes can change a life, and that life is not always theirs. This film shows us just how wrong something right can be, as well as how right something wrong can be.

Having been a 50s housewife with children at home and a husband who wanted to be anywhere but there, this movie was familiar territory. How many of us in those years simply packed our dreams away for the immediate necessity of putting food on the table and paying the mortgage? Di Caprio is outstanding, as is Winslet, she having to deal with an American accent along with the tearing emotions. I didn't see that anyone picked up on the final scene, of Kathy Bates and her husband, but to me that was the whole moral of the story - here is where you will end up if you give in to what you know is not right for you. Overall, though, well done - except women in the 50s did NOT wear hats to work!!