more than just suburban angst

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2009)

Most people hailed it as a masterpiece; the minority insisted it was pretentious and meaningless. Neither is the truth. That's part of what makes it interesting-- its ambiguity. Even though nut-case mathematician Michael Shannon bluntly shouts out many of the ostensible themes of the picture in an over-the-top scene, the thinking, open-minded viewer is left to guess, or decide whether the hellish marriage between thirty-something Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is the result of our stifling, conformity driven capitalist culture (I think I already used that line, but it applies) and/OR the result of a neurotic, narcissistic housewife whose unfulfilled, grandiose dreams destroy the lives of those around her. There's no question about the overall quality of the production. I'd say its the story of two people just smart enough to see through the empty, soul-sucking aspects of modern life but lacking the imagination to transcend it. Which is, in itself, a very sad, sad story.