What if the American Dream is a nightmare?

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2009)

Revolutionary Road (2008), directed by Sam Mendes, is a great vehicle for Kate Winslet. Winslet is an actor whom I truly admire. A critic has called her the "Meryl Streep for her generation," and I agree. Leonardo DiCaprio does a reasonable job as her husband, although for most of the film his expression varies between a scowl and a dark scowl.
Frank Wheeler is living the 1950's American dream--well-paying job, beautiful wife, two kids, shiny Oldsmobile, house in Connecticut. April Wheeler is living the dream as well. It's true that her career as an actor has gone nowhere, but she loves her husband and her kids and their beautiful home.
Except. . . Frank says he hates his job, and April thinks they should be looking down on the life they're living. They know they're better than other people they see around them. Her thought--let's go to Paris where I can work as a secretary and you can find yourself.
The problem with the script is that there's a major scene missing. We're led to understand, in context, that Frank had great dreams for himself, and April shared those dreams. That point is never made clear--when did they decide they could do great things, and what talents did Frank have that people around him didn't have? (We also never see Winslet, as April, acting. Early in the film, we're shown a scene where she's acted in a community play which, apparently, was horrible.)
The film contains some sub-plots, which basically serve as filler. Frank has a dalliance with a secretary, one of their friends is in love with April, and a mentally ill man is the only person who both sees the truth, and is able to tell the truth about what he sees.
The strength of the film is in Winslet's acting, and in the basic question: Is the perfect life really the perfect life? If it isn't perfect, what then?