"Revolutionary Road" - Leo and Kate on the screen together again...

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2010)

I believe that it was in early 2008 that I heard that a new film was coming out that would be pairing stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the screen together again, 11 years after they were the king and queen of the world in "Titanic" (1997). That long wait happens again in the 2008 film "Revolutionary Road."
Now I'm a guy and I'm a sucker for romances, so that when I heard that the power-couple of "Titanic" were teaming up again for a new film due out later in 2008, you can bet that I waited with eager anticipation to see this movie. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, in all likelihood, made film history with "Titanic" by becoming probably the new Hollywood screen couple. And while the two are together again in the Sam Mendes-directed "Revolutionary Road," they are very much the complete opposite of the characters they made famous 11 years prior in "Titanic."
"Revolutionary Road" is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates, and concerns the Wheeler family, spear-headed by Frank (DiCaprio) and his wife April (Winslet), who live with their two children in a lovely New York suburb. Remembering that the two are the opposites of the characters they portrayed in 1997, their marriage is very much on the rocks from the opening moments. Set in 1955, they live a picturesque life as a picturesque, perfect American couple, you know, the type of unique American family that all the rest of American families should try to be like.
Things couldn't be any more farther removed from the truth.
Frank hates his job as a lowly tech salesperson, and has often dreamed of better things in life. April is pretty much the ideal housewife who does the incredibly simple task of making a decent home life for her family. April soon comes up with the idea that in order to get what they both want out of life, that it would be nice to move to Paris, France, and try to start over. She'll get a job as a secretary, she says, while Frank will stay at home with the kids and try to figure things out. It's a lovely dream, but a highly unrealistic one, and soon numerous factors (internal as well as external) come out that threaten to tear this already faulty family unit apart.
Now, I'm not one to really jump on the bandwagon of the latest Hollywood flick that's primed to sweep the Oscars. However, I found "Revolutionary Road" to be something that is a little bit higher than the usual Hollywood drivel. I found the missing link in most Hollywood pictures purely in the star-power of the two lead performers. It was a sight to see DiCaprio and Winslet together again. (I might as well as proclaim them as my ultimate, favorite screen couple.) That they're together again under different circumstances and playing vastly different characters than the ones they immortalized in "Titanic" is part of the experience. I found their characters to be brutally honest about themselves and inherently imperfect, but full-blooded and really life-like; essentially, they're real people here.
I like Leonardo DiCaprio. He is one of my favorite actors. He has shaped up in the time since "Titanic" to become one of the film community's most versatile and talented performers; he is no longer the "King of the World" boy-toy he was in "Titanic's" hey-day. (When is this man going to win an Oscar, or at least a Golden Globe?) Kate Winslet proved to be the real winner here, since she won a Golden Globe for her performance here (as well as an Oscar for "The Reader," which I haven't seen, but I say she should have won it for this film, too). Her performance is honest to begin with, but halfway through takes a turn down a much darker route that was totally unforeseeable by anyone in the audience.
"Revolutionary Road" is a real movie, a real movie that is full-blooded and smart. I should have said this way earlier, but I had to watch the film for a college class recently, and it was my first time seeing it. I have no idea how I missed this movie while it was in the theaters. But I was glad I had the grand opportunity to see what was one of the best - if not the best - drama films of 2008.
10/10