Quite a Revolution in film making!

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2012)

More than ten years after TITANIC, Leonardo and Kate Winslet are together again and now everyone gets to see exactly what might have happened if the couple had survived the boat going down. Hahahaha!!! And while there is nothing romantic about their reunion, they are REVOLUTIONARY Road's one true revelation. Winslet is remarkable. She is subtly but always at odds with herself inside. She wants to love her life, her husband, and on some level, she does. But she is also yearning and desperate to feel alive. DiCaprio is a bit shaky but while April's hand is less than reassuring, Winslet's hand lifts him and elevates his performance to nearly the same level as hers. To watch the two of them go back and forth between being hopeful for their futures and dismally resigned to a lifetime of unhappiness is a ride well worth taking and one that will certainly leave you dizzy by the time it comes to its harrowing close.
The problem with REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is that Mendes seems more concerned in presenting the Wheeler's as a symbol for the greater point instead of allowing them to just be the relatable characters that they are. Frank and April are special. When we begin to buy into the idea that we are just like everyone else is when we become just like everyone else. When a film tries to make a point instead of just allowing the point to make itself is when a film takes on an importance it did not earn to start. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD could have been beautiful if it wasn't trying so hard to be the biggest house on the block.