Pointless Road

Rating: 2/10 (17 September 2009)

I just finished watching Revolutionary Road, actually I watch it twice. The story is set in US suburbia, in the post WW2. It enfolds a married couple, the Wheelers, who are in discomfort with their ordinary lives and they decide to do something different. Their plan is to move to Paris and start a new and different life. Winslet plays a 1950s housewife with unaccomplished dreams. She encourages he husband Frank (DiCaprio) to quit his job and sell their home so they can go on this trip. But Frank is more assertive to others opinion, outside their marriage, than of his own wife. For a moment we see them doing well until Frank is offered a better position on his work place and decides to cancel their plans.
I understand the premise of the story and Winslet character's desperation to get out of her, so called boring life. What I didn't get was her true motivations. I have never read the book and perhaps I never will, but the movie doesn't really develop why she is so into going to France and leaving everything behind. It's obvious, they are not happy and it's clear from the beginning of the movie where their arguments and fighting become cliché throughout the entire movie. The plot is focused on their depressive state, instead of showing how they got to be so unhappy. Perhaps you might have read this already in other reviews, but my other complains is the lack of character development. Character development is practically inexistent; it leaves you with a lot of whys. The main characters become unlikable and predictable, the only character that I found interesting was John Givings played by Michael Shannon. But other than that, I found the acting was just average, and it wasn't the best work of DiCaprio and Winslet. Story wise there is no concrete plot and in my opinion, it's not strong enough for the viewer to support the main character motive. Anyway, be your own judge, but be warned, this movie is depressing from start to finish.