Unhappy Marriage: The Movie

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2009)

Revolutionary Road is Sam Mendes fourth (or fifth?) film, and as you can expect, the film looks visually exquisite. But I'm not going to start talking about cinematography here. I'm going to start talking about how Revolutionary Road is Sam's weakest film. The praise and hate the movie is receiving puzzles me. For starters, Revolutionary Road is a movie that depends on performances, not story or script; What you mostly see for almost 2 hours is two good looking people duking it out over their unhappiness, their wasted lives, their BORING lives, the chances they missed and wished they had, etcetera, etcetera. It is definitely not a movie for everyone, but that doesn't mean that you have to 'get' the movie in order to hype it up for everyone else. As I said, the movie is about performances, nothing more, nothing less.
Two young people fall in love one night, get married, have children, and start to question if they really love each other. The premise of Revolutionary Road is based on a novel that I have no intention of reading, let alone comparing to the movie. Between infidelities and broken dreams, it is all about the 'realistic' aspect of the marriage between Leo and Kate, which is why I guess many people love this one. On the other hand, we have the requisite over-blown dramatic sequences which apparently turned off most of the professional critics and commenter's here in IMDb. I am in the middle.
I appreciate Sam's extreme attention and detail to the ups and downs of marriage, but what I don't appreciate is the little things in between. For some reason, we have Michael Shannon telling Leo and Kate the reality of the situation IN THEIR FACE, in order for them to understand what is really going on. Then we have an unnecessary love issue between the Wheeler's neighbor with Kate that goes on as subtle as Pink Floyd giving a free concert in Times Square. And an ending that teaches us that marriage is not what the magazines make you believe it is. Or the American Dream ads for that matter. After Jarhead, I really don't understand why Sam wanted to tackle this project in the first place. The script is incredibly simple, and it isn't as great as many people here are making you believe it is. What enhances the script, and the movie, are the performances, which are first-rate. I hate repeating myself, but it is the case I'm afraid.
Kate Winslet is the talk of town this year, and I can see why, at least in this movie. Her performance as bored and depressed April Wheeler is fantastic on almost all accounts. But as fantastic as Kate was, it was Leo who definitely made me turn my head. He completely stole Kate's thunder, COMPLETELY. And in Leo's quieter moments is where he shines the most. Why the hell did he get snubbed? What the hell are the Academy smoking? I mean, is it really that hard to nominate a great performance? Jeez. The supporting cast is forgettable except for of course Michael Shannon. Out of the four scenes he was in, he stole all four of them. Who the hell is Michael Shannon? Quite possibly one of the most underrated actors working today, who alongside Ryan Gosling will definitely go places in the near future. Thank the gods he has a much deserved nomination.
Revolutionary Road is like some of the movies released this year (Gran Torino, Seven Pounds)- loved by many people, hated by many critics. As a big fan of Sam Mendes, this was sort of let down. The script wasn't anything special, and the movie is basically there for you to see Leo, Kate's and Shannon's performances, which is alright I guess. Far from being a bad movie, but it is also far from being a masterpiece. It is just an above-average watch that you will either love or hate.
6.8/10