Revolutionary characters on a road that curved to brilliance

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2011)

As Frank and April Wheeler move to Revolutionary Road, it is indeed hard to remember if they are the young Wheelers on Revolutionary Road, or the young Revolutionaries on Wheeler Road. This was noted by mental institution patient, John (Michael Shannon) and I agreed with him. Part of the brilliance of "Revolutionary Road" is having the one character who is deemed mentally unfit also be the one voice of reason.
Director Sam Mendes takes us back to the 1950s to a Connecticut Suburb, where you were supposed to get married, have kids and play house. And if you wanted to play in a pretty house with a pretty wife and kids, then you had to work at a job you didn't like. Frank and April are more perceptive and innovative than those around them, and they believed that they didn't have to live that life to be happy. They could move to Paris and do whatever they wanted.
Revolutionary Road was not a straight road, and although it never really twisted or turned, it did curve. Frank and April could see past their neighbours, but they couldn't see past themselves. Instead of a revolutionary move across the ocean, we got to examine trust issues that only spanned the suburb and the city. And for as forward-looking as they are, they couldn't see what was holding them back. But we could.
I was fascinated by "Revolutionary Road" because they gave me a revolutionary character that I could instantly connect with, and the resolutions for Frank and April were always just around the bend that you could almost see. DiCaprio, Winslet, Mendes and writer Justin Haythe have enough talent and nerve to drive me straight to the end without stalling.