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Friday, January 23, 2009
DiCaprio, Winslet shine in ‘Revolutionary Road’
When people complain that Revolutionary Road is a “downer,” they’re not wrong - but I still take issue with them.
The much-ballyhooed reunion of the Titanic stars had been touted as a heavy Oscar favorite, until the icy reaction to the film blew a chill through its odds. “Too depressing.” “Too remote.” “Too harsh,” people have said. Indeed, when the Oscar nominations came out Thursday, Revolutionary Road scored only three.
That reaction is understandable. This portrait of a marriage in crisis probably hits many people where they live - or at least where they once lived. It’s often a hard movie to watch. I would be hard pressed to recommend it to anyone in a strained relationship or a breakup. Before the film is 10 minutes old, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are at each other’s throats.
All that said, I must play the contrarian. Revolutionary Road may not be cheery, and it’s rarely romantic, but it’s still an excellent, mesmerizing film, with the two stars in top form. When it comes to the Oscars, DiCaprio was robbed, and Winslet was nominated for the wrong picture, the excruciatingly pretentious The Reader.
They play Frank and April Wheeler, who from all outward appearances, are the perfect couple in 1950s suburbia. Behind closed doors, however, home is far from sweet. April, especially, is discontent playing housewife and mother, and Frank feels restless, stuck in the kind of dead-end job he swore he would never have.
Then, one day, April has a brainwave: why not just drop everything and move to Paris, like she and Frank had always dreamed? However, fate, as is its wont, has other ideas. My only misgiving is that this story seems a touch too programmed, too preordained - but Revolutionary Road retains its potency throughout.
To some this might seem like American Beauty in a time warp, given that Sam Mendes directed both movies, and both deal with marital discord. While the themes are somewhat similar, this movie has a very different feel - it’s darker, moodier and much more austere. Mendes cannily composes his shots and uses subtle camera movements to create feelings of emptiness, and emotions broiling beneath the surface.
The performances stand out the most, though. Michael Shannon received a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination for playing a neighbor’s son who has no filter between his mouth and his brain. Unlike most everyone around him, he says exactly what he thinks - and he articulates what he senses - which of course makes him “crazy.” Shannon almost seems like a character from another movie - but that’s really the point.
The greatest pleasure is watching Winslet and DiCaprio together again. They still have great chemistry, but they use it to very different ends. Both actors have to play happy domestics, traumatized basket cases, and sometimes traumatized basket cases pretending to be happy domestics. Clearly, these people were made for each other - but maybe not the way they imagined. It’s a delicate balancing act, but Winslet and DiCaprio walk it beautifully, to stunning effect.
That’s why I take issue with those who say the movie is a downer. I actually came out of Revolutionary Road in a good mood, despite its sobering subject. A great story well told - that’s never depressing. It’s always enthralling.
GRADE: A
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