"Titanic" stars clash it out in a dramatic marital piece about two ordinary spouses.

Rating: Null/10 (2 September 2014)

Marriage is a beautiful and often stressful bond between two people that allows us to tests ourselves and express our love. Cinema reflects this but also focuses on the hardship a married couple can endure. Sam Mendes being the paperboy for this directorial role worked with his wife Kate Winslet and her old "Titanic" partner Leonardo Dicaprio in "Revolutionary Road". April (Winslet) and Frank (Dicaprio) Wheeler are a middle class married couple living in suburban Connecticut,1955. The two met at an elegant party years ago and have been in lover ever since. After they discuss their future plans, they find themselves being stuck in between and the opposite of what they thought they would be like. Frank is an overworked New York City businessman while April is a stay at home mom for their two kids. The couple soon realizes they must change their life as they quarrel and support each other throughout their battle. This film didn't live up to the extreme drama it promised and the rich writing I thought I would have heard. Instead, it is a slow-moving and mostly powerful look at a marriage that is similar to other marriages portrayed in other films. April and Frank are not enjoyable characters at all, and there aren't many supporting characters to allow us to escape from the two of them. Were stuck with them for the entire time. Sam Mendes doesn't keep his beautiful craftsmanship that he had in "American Beauty" and "Road to Perdition" in this one. He makes a dry film that focuses too much on the production design and not enough on a detailed marriage. The film isn't juicy enough in the sense that there isn't much moving about it and that not much happens until the last half hour to really grasp your emotions. Winslet and Dicaprio are brilliant actors here. The first hour and a half they give still performances, but the last half of and hour is pure dramatic acting with one particularly mesmerizing lengthy argument towards the end between the two of them. Dicaprio screams his head off where Winslet uses her facial expressions to shows her feelings. There is also a surprise cameo by Michael Shannon that will shock you. He speaks his mind and might even show what Frank and April are unwillingly wanting to say. This film shows an unoriginal marital story that has its strong moments and impeccable acting.