The dark side of suburbia

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2010)

For a British director Sam Mendes seems to have a great understanding of American culture and he has a great interest in the darker side of American culture. Mendes reunions Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio for this dark, gritty piece of Americana set story.
Winslet and DiCaprio play April and Frank Wheeler, a unhappy married couple that live in 1950s East Coast America in the suburbs. April was a failed actress and a housewife whilst Frank is an unhappy salesman for the same company his father work at. Outwardly people thing they are the perfect couple with a nice family; but no one knows what happens behind closed doors. Desperate for a chance April suggest to Frank moving to Paris so he can find himself and be happy in the city of live. April has plans on how the move would work and the two make serious preparations to move the family abroad. But event conspirer against April's plans and whilst the married couple have a brief period of happiness their relationship becomes very strained.
Revolutionary Road is an actor's film: it is filled with excellent performances with DiCaprio and Winslet at their best. They are believable as the couple of the piece and this is such a realistic scenario about how a relationship going wrong. The supporting performances were excellent, with people believing the illusion of the Wheelers and the other character seeming to have a need for it. This is most evident with the female characters Helen (Kathy Bates) and Milly (Kathryn Hahn).
Mendes handles the material, trying to balance out both April and Frank's good and bad part and they both change amongst themselves as the protagonist and the antagonist. He gets the best out the actors and his skill behind the camera adds to the power, like when April has to make a phone call and the camera moves away and April gives the audience a voice-over. Mendes could have easily have shot the film in a dark hand-held style which is popular at the moment. Yet Mendes kept he kept the film well lit and its offers a great juxtaposition of the nice setting of suburbia and the darkness of the relationship. There are excellent themes in the film, there is the idea of broken and unfulfilled dreams, an important aspect in some of American literature like Of Mice and Men. There is the obvious film of a relationship going wrong, with the people starting a family and creating a home just because it's the normal thing, not because it's the best thing to do. As well the film looks at the idea of illusion that people will put up to protect themselves and other people believing it. Revolutionary Road was very much like American Beauty, looking at the dark underbelly of American suburbia, but this time, set in the 50s.
Whilst the film is very strong for the most part, they could have shown a little more about how the relationship broke down in the first place and the children did not play a big a role as they should have.
Revolutionary Road is a melodrama: but it's an very good melodrama and sometimes that is what the audience needs.