Revolutionary Road (2008)

Based on the Richard Yates’ novel of the same name, director Sam Mendes has a mini-reunion with former Titanic alums, Kathy Bates, Leonardo DiCaprio and his wife, Kate Winslet to bring Revolutionary Road to the screen.

The action takes place primarily in the 1955 Connecticut household of Frank and April Wheeler (DiCaprio, Winslet) whose marriage is imploding from the inside out.

In the first moments of the movie, you see the jilted husband and wife have a verbal onslaught at the side of road that comes out of nowhere. Frank wants to confront his problems with the marriage and April doesn’t want to hear it.

April feels trapped in “Donna Reed” mindset of falling in love, get married, stay at home and take care of the kids. She doesn’t want that. Frank doesn’t want to be in a loveless marriage where he has to go a mindless job to take care of a family that he doesn’t want.

Kathy Bates plays Helen Givings, a realtor that sold their house to the Wheelers. She asks April that her mentally disturbed son, John (Michael Shannon) was being released from the loony bin, could meet the Wheelers.

Wanting to escape from their lives, April suggests to Frank that they would pack up and move to France. They tell their friends, Shep and Milly Campbell (David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn) about their plans. They looks stupefied at the suggestion.

This movie is the complete antithesis of “Titanic”. There is no love lost with the couple. Their fights are epic, raw, and brutally honest. Even John has the same mindset as the Wheelers when he calls them out on their transparent facade.

I would just like to know. With their endless squabbles, where were the kids when they happen? Are they always at the sitters?

I thought this movie was on the same lines of The Hours or Far From Heaven. Dealing with the tragedy of the American way of life in the 1950s. What is happening behind closed doors is out on the forefront.

A solid film from Sam Mendes. Check it out.

My rating: *** 1/2 stars.