Intense yet subtle suburban drama with amazing acting

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 2009)

Revolutionary Road is an oddly appropriate and ironic title since it involves 2 smart unconventional young American people in the fifties who want to make their own personal "revolution" by changing their life. They never felt as if they fit in and it's also why they were partly attracted to each other in the first place. This films marks also the reunion between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, their first since Titanic. Those two turned out to be a few of the greatest actors of their generation and not only are they fully in control of their amazing acting gifts, their chemistry is undeniable. The rest of the cast is completed by fine actors especially the disturbed former engineer. I compare to Titanic but it's more intimate than epic, more suburban drama than romance although there's a fair bit of it that encounters the pitfalls of convention, hypocrisy and fear of change. Revolutionary Road is much closer in spirit to American Beauty by the same director.
It's based on an 1961 novel but I found that most of the issues explored are still valid today. Perhaps not how Kate Winslet's character would act in the second half (although it's understandable for the period) but more how certain values and peer pressure can create obstacles preventing us from reaching true happiness and how people react to it. Actually, beyond the couple's conflict, it's the clash of different values that was fascinating to me. It's very dramatic in parts but also subtle emotionally and psychologically. None of the characters are outright bad, they're just human and flawed. I was engrossed by the story and the characters. If there's a slight weakness, it would be that not enough time was spent on showing exactly how the 2 main characters thought differently than the rest of society. I also see how some viewers might be bored by the limited scope and ticked at some of the personal actions taken. One of my joys was to guess what would happen next at certain pivotal events and trying to guess what was taking place inside the character's heads. The dialogues were great, sounded right and were delivered perfectly. The production design was top-notch and nothing seemed out of place or anachronistic although I'm not a specialist of that era. I think Revolutionary Road was indeed one of the best dramas of 2008 and it deserved all the accolades it got.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10