Mark my words, this Sam Mendes film will be one that is “discovered” by critics many years too late. SFGate’s Mick LaSalle called it the Best Film of 2008 and lists his reasons why. Here are a few of them. Thanks to Davey for the tip.
5. Sex and despair: I love the use of extra-marital sex in “Revolutionary Road.” As is so often the case in life, it’s the only creative outlet left to people who have given up hope. It’s an expression of deep despair.
6. Leo: This is a wonderful role for DiCaprio, in that it capitalizes on all that’s strong and weak about him: his winning smile, his glibness, his engaging personality and also his slightly superficial, lightweight aura. Winslet’s spirit seems many years older, which makes Frank seem no match for April’s expectations.
7. Kate: Winslet is astonishing in this film, giving the best performance by an English-speaking actress in 2008. It’s all there: April’s enormous dreams and crushing frustration. I love the subdued yet ever-alert way she looks at DiCaprio for signs that he might be the man she thought she was marrying. And I love the way he mostly wilts and sometimes preens under the scrutiny. This is the portrait of a brilliant woman shut in a trap.
He also points out something no one else has mentioned yet:
At the same time – and this is important – the film is very specific about the marital pressures peculiar to the film’s era, the mid-1950s. For the man, it means a life sentence of unrewarding work. For the woman, it’s a cell door closing. For both, it’s a farewell to dreams.
Incidentally, the specificity with which director Sam Mendes conveys this era makes it baffling and irritating to hear people compare this film to AMC’s “Mad Men.” “Revolutionary Road” is about the 1950s, not the early ’60s, a big difference. Richard Yates, who wrote the novel “Revolutionary Road” in 1961, understood the difference; that’s why he set the book in 1955. It’s the difference between Eisenhower and Kennedy, between Tennessee Ernie Ford and Chubby Checker, and anybody who confuses the two isn’t giving this film the attention it demands and deserves.
57 Responses for "Revolutionary Road – Best Film of 2008"
I read the novel by Richard Yates a couple of days ago (and right after that “The Reader” by Bernhard Schlink), and it was quite a winning experience, cause I imagined the actors of the adaptations when I read it. In my mind it worked pretty well, “Revolutionary Road” is a masterful novel, complex character studies- honestly brutal, but also narrated with affection towards the central characters, although they are all kind of miserable.
But, people, to be true: I still have to wait to finalley see the movie, it opens mid January in Germany- but I´m really looking forward, and if you also like to read books, give Richard Yates a chance: the story sounds downbeat, but it´s such a marvelous work, you can´t but enjoy reading.
That said, I wasn´t thar impressed by the Schlink novel, but the erotic scenes (and my imagination of Kate Winslet in that scenes)- damn, that was hot!
Bye, and happy new year!
I think it’s one of the best film of 2008. I like TCoBB but I think is more ambituos than his final results. Slumdog is really exciting, but Rev. Road is so much subtle and hard to watch, and -at the same time- has more soul. Winslet is terrific: that looks, that frustration in her face… Leo es really good (I usually don’t like him as an actor) and M. Shannon is the voice of reason.
I also like Elegy, that I think is under-rated. Ben Kingsley is so good in that film: U can only imagine him for Kepesh role… Penelope Cruz is perfect as Consuela. It’s a film with the same mood of Rev. Road.
Sasha, thanks for posting this. I thought LaSalle made a good argument in support of the film. I wish he could have reviewed it earlier because maybe some other critics would have jumped on the bandwagon.
Well it’s too bad there so much gloom and doom around RR, but I’m hoping the film will be reevaluated in years to come, like The Ice Storm.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. It’s simply an unimpressive film. I don’t want to call it mediocre, but it failed to touch me and which is even more important, it failed to shake me.
The performances are solid, with Leonardo DiCaprio giving his best performance to date. He was the cast standout in a performance, which is complex and mature and I connected with.
But that’s it. Kate Winslet gave a performance, which was way too mannered to get my attention. It’s her doing it again and again and again (I think her two best performances remain these in Iris and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Her character never came to life really. And the supporting cast members – Michael Shannon was superb in his first scene, but went way over the top in the second and ruined it. Kathy Bates was too one-note.
Anyway, I think it’s Mendes’s and Hythe’s fault. The script isn’t working. I didn’t like the structure and there were many blank moments – there wasn’t anything happening. I don’t mean action or anything, but kind of a character arc or real emotion on the screen. Sam Mendes did the American Beauty thing – too much style and the substance gets lost. The film had some excellent scenes. That’s true. But it feels kind of unemotional and it lacks honesty, which it needed to be a good film.
And the ending (the last scene) was too obvious and kind of idiotic to me. It was like not respecting your audience and repeating to them the same and explaining the film. Absurd.
Sorry, I wouldn’t vote for such a film. Technically good, with some good moments, but unimpressive and not nohest.
I was disappointed by the film, it was not even good enough to call it the BEST film of the year. Oh come on. Two years ago I watched a brilliant film covering similar topics and I called it the best picture of the year in my opinion and made it into final five at Oscars. It was of course… Little Children, which was far greater that Rev Road in every aspect.
@ Alesque
Absolutely true. Little Children covered the same topic(s), but it was an honest film and the filmmakers didn’t try to explain things. It was a brave film (in many aspects) and it paid off. I loved the film and I think it had kind of a strange atmosphere I loved. This one lacks soul at all.
Im sorry but i really enjoyed RR, made me smoke after I watched it. True, there may be some boring scenes but Its completely forgiveable unlike Wendy and Lucy.
THe breakfast scene was really haunting and I know, it will stay with me for many years to come.
Im not a fan of Mendes. Neither Di caprio. But I really love The Winslet and Im happy to say that she didn’t disapoint me. I’ve been waiting for this film since I heard of it. I thought It was forever but thanks to Marion Cotillard for making my last Oscar year exciting. For this year, I’ll be rooting for Kate.
I still can’t forget her face when Leonardo was drawing something on a piece of napkin, unaware of whats going to happen. Its a face of despair, love, unhappiness, confusion, resigned ambition all rolled into one.
Im sorry to those who didn’t like the film but don’t hate those who liked it.
I think that reading Revolutionary Road gives you a much better appreciation for the movie. I read it before watching the movie and I was astounded at how well Kate and Leo captured the characters as I had imagined them and also how a lot [if not the majority] of scenes felt exactly as they had when I read them. I also thought that Haythe did a wonderful job adapting it, cutting out certain scenes that weren’t necessary but still keeping all the necessary ones. And I liked the winks [I guess you could call them that] to readers of the book that Sam Mendes or the art design team or whoever stuck in the movie, like the name of the band playing in the dance scene. And Kate’s performance is my favorite this year so far. To me it mixed the flashy performance of Meryl Streep in Doubt and the understated performance of Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy [both of which were also personal favorites].
And I agree with the assessment that Revolutionary Road is being discovered too late. This article [http://www.incontention.com/?p=3619#more-3619] is one I almost completely agree with, especially the comparison to The Assassination of Jesse James. That film was one of my favorites last year, other than Atonement.
I was a fan of Little Children and thought Winslet was even better in that film. But the two films are not equal and do not really cover the same ground, and I don’t think it’s entirely fair to compare them. Little Children had a satirical edge to it and wasn’t in your face as much except in the scenes with Haley; I think RR is more grim and digs more deeply into a failed marriage. It’s interesting that Todd Field had considered making RR but then switched over to making Little Children. I wonder what he thinks of the film.
It think it simply comes down to this: ‘Revolutionary Road’ is a no-prisoners, heavyweight, no-room-to-breathe kind of thing, and it really turns off a lot of viewers (apparently). Personally, I think it’s great — not the year’s best at all — but I found myself connecting with these characters because of Kate and Leo’s perfs.
I understand if you call it banal, cold, etc. — It worked for me.
I still find it amusing that ‘Gran Torino’ is currently sitting prettier on metacritic and rottentomatoes — oh well.
I wish I could say I liked the film more, but I think Mendes covered similar ground better in AMERICAN BEAUTY. Here, I could see the gears turning. And while there is a certain appreciation for watching DiCaprio and Winslet, in essence, flipping their roles from TITANIC (here, he’s the one trapped, and she’s the one wanting to escape), the movie doesn’t really go past that. As Kim Voynar astutely pointed out in her column, the book wasn’t about this couple trapped in suburbia, but about how they were using their feeling of superiority over suburbia as a crutch, and the movie doesn’t really capture that. It’s certainly not a bad movie, and Michael Shannon does deserve a nomination, but I don’t think it’s Best Picture material.
I would like Mick to elaborate on his claim that 1955 is completely different than 1961 and therefore, lacks the ability to be compared to ‘Mad Men’.
While tonally, the two are opposites, they deal with the same subject matter of martial imprisonment/unrewarding work/etc. And despite the fact that the years have different presidents, he fails to really give us the reason why those two pieces of work don’t deserve a comparison — by the way, I really like both of them.
Thanks for posting, Sasha. I can’t wait to see the film. I watched a little clip just yesterday (when Alice tells Frank about Paris) and I loved it. It was no doubt seeing Leo and Kate together, but I have such hopes for “RR.” I hope I feel as Mike LaSalle felt. My anticipation for it is very high. I should maybe, check them before going in so I only focus on what I see.
I’m so confident though. In Leo and Kate. (I think they’re two actors too, who are taken for granted. Ho hum, another awesome performance. What’s new? … But that’s exactly what is awesome!)
Sure its good, if you love overly acted scenes that lose all depth and just become auditions for Fox’s new reality show, “Who Can Be More Emotional?” and a script which hits you over the head and still misses the point.
It also doesn’t help that Micahel Shannon’s performance is near identical to Heath as the Joker. Not his fault, just two actors who saw two characters in a similar fashion, and Heath’s came out first and resonated a lot more.
Season one of Mad Men takes place prior to the Kennedy election and arguably depicts the same society as that in Revolutionary Road.
Chase Khan and Paul Outlaw – d’accord. I liked the film but in many ways it’s like “Office Space” (un-re-edited) were to come out now after a few seasons of the show The Office – people would be like, ok, right, so what? I guess Mick LaSalle would have to tell us how wildly different American office environments were in 1998 and 2004.
Sorry, this film was terrible. They could have easily ended each other’s misery with one simple word….DIVORCE.
Pointless movie and nothing but histronics from the actors. The part where she says “you touch me and I’ll scream” and they screams is total cheese.
Horrible movie that will be a box office bomb.
Sasha, you know I’m as happy as you are about this late-breaking rave for Rev Road. Not to detract in any way from Mick LaSalle’s review, but you say,
“He also points out something no one else has mentioned yet”
Nobody has pointed it out online, in published form, but I did write something similar to you on December 15th:
Sort of the same think LaSalle wrote.
But all I can think about now is,
(A) I need to post these things before they’re old news.
(B) Maybe Mick LaSalle is hacking my email.
(C) Sasha doesn’t read my emails
SPOILER ALERT
I just watched RR and I agree completely with LaSalle. This is the best movie possibly ever to deal with a marriage in strife, superior to American Beauty and Little Children, if only because it is far more focused. One critic (can’t remember who) made a great point: watch it twice. You can sympathize with April one time, and Frank the next. Neither is to blame. American Beauty, on the other hand, undoubtedly makes Lester Burnham out to be the right one, while Carolyn is the idiot, the one at fault. What makes it ok for Lester to want a car, but she gets attacked for wanting a couch? (I’ve heard people argue that Carolyn is the couch, while Lester wants a car, but I think this is a fine tightrope to walk.) Lester’s affair is also somehow acceptable while Carolyn’s is derided (We can’t help but laugh at her when she screams “Fuck me, your majesty!”). Unlike AB, RR does not villainize April or Frank, but rather makes us feel for both of them.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the acting was superb. SPOILER ALERT I don’t think I will shake the breakfast scene any time soon. I felt physically ill at the moment when April scrambles the eggs. Kate Winslet deserves an Oscar for that scene alone. Even the minor characters affected me. The next door couple–WOW–how about when the wife breaks down after hearing about the Wheeler’s escape to Paris plan? Or Shep in his final scene, refusing to talk about the Wheeler’s? We know even without them saying that their marriage is just as phony and horrible as the Wheeler’s. The ending scene where Bates’ husband turns off his hearing aid also got to me (yes, it was almost identical to a moment in The Savages, but I’m guessing it’s in the novel?). Yes, Bates was one-noted, but her character was one-noted! She is the suburban robot which April could have become. As for Michael Shannon, some are saying he’s over-the-top, but if he’s over-the-top, then so is Heath Ledger as the Joker. In a way, it’s a very similar role: the insane voice of reason. I loved Michael Shannon, especially in the second scene where he just gnaws on DiCaprio. Gosh, I wish I could’ve said some of those things to my father!
My theory is that for many people, RR is like a long, hard look in the mirror. If that was my life, I would have trouble sitting through RR, too.
I think this film warrants nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Adapted Screenplay (I’d be thrilled if it knocked out Benjamin Button).
I wouldn’t call it THE best film of the year, but I’d say it’s definetly in my top 10.
It’s certainly one of the best acted ones… but at the sold out screening I went to, I could count in one hand the number of people who liked the film, which is a shame.
For women, were the years on and between 1955-1961 dramatically different? Many scholars place contemporary women’s movement at 1963 (Post-Feminine Mystique). I’m no scholar on this material, but I reckon most of you aren’t either. Were the marital pressures really that different? If they were distinct, then how so? Please explain.
On the film, I thought it was decent. It’s tough to make the claim that it was the BEST of the year. What makes a film the BEST of the year? We have to set these parameters before such statements are made.
Revolutionary Road was a complete dissapointment. The acting was stellar, especially Leo and Kate who both deserve nominations. But it didn’t go much past that.
There was so much potential and I was trying so hard to like it but after about the first half I didn’t feel like it was going anywhere and, IMO, the whole thing really didn’t have much of a resolution.
I also thought the score was very beautiful and well written but when that damn theme began to play again for the millionth time as the credits began to roll i couldn’t take anymore.
People say Benjamin Button left them cold. Revolutionary Road left me freezing.
Andre wrote: It’s certainly one of the best acted ones… but at the sold out screening I went to, I could count in one hand the number of people who liked the film, which is a shame.
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Unless you did a survey of everyone in the sold out screening, I’m not sure how you could know this. Just because they weren’t babbling with glee afterwards, doesn’t mean they didn’t like the film. Maybe they were saddened by it and needed to think about what was going on.
From the posts here and elsewhere, the audience could have split down the middle. It’s encouraging, though, that despite the reluctant praise of some of the critics, people are still going to the film.
“As for Michael Shannon, some are saying he’s over-the-top, but if he’s over-the-top, then so is Heath Ledger as the Joker. In a way, it’s a very similar role: the insane voice of reason.”
Heath Ledger was over the top, but he got a pass for being demented. I’d say he was insane, but not the voice of reason like Michael Shannon. I suppose Shannon gets a pass too because he was insane. I also suppose that being wildly insane sort of makes you over the top.
ALSO, vote for the Award Circuit Community Awards (ACCA’s): http://www.awardscircuit.com/CircuitCommunityAwards.html
Have not seen it, probably get to it this weekend, but do we want to be throwing in with Mick LaSalle, the strangest film critic in America?
Also, Ebert’s review of this is pretty beautiful.
DiCaprio has to be nominated at the Oscars! I don’t unterstand his SAG Snub…… he was just… BRILLIANT!
This movie look really interesting. Who would have ever thought that the kid from Growing Pains would turn out to be such a big star? I always wonder what kinds of acting classes he took when he was younger. A good acting school is worth it’s weight in gold. The key is to find one that caters to your individual needs. Not only do you need the basic tools for auditioning, scene study and the like, but you need a curriculum that works with whatever your schedule may be. Whether you work all day, go to high school or care for your kids, not everyone can study in the traditional way. Another acting program that works this way is Film Connection. http://www.film-connection.com/Acting.html The Film Connection’s acting program is affiliated with Joe Anthony studios and fetures valuable one-on-one mentoring. They are also available to anyone living in the United States and have financial aid assistance.
1955 was no different from 1961 except we didn’t have hoola hoops in 1955. Or hula if you prefer.
LaSalle is totally stretching to suggest that marriages or women in 1955 were different than they were in 1961. Where does this guy come from anyway?
This site sure is promoting this movie to death. It seems they have atleast two stories a day on this movie.
Again: Mad Men Season 1 = mid to late 1960, pre-Kennedy; Season 2 = early to mid-1962, mid-Kennedy (Cuban missile crisis).
Emily posted: This site sure is promoting this movie to death. It seems they have atleast two stories a day on this movie.
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Far from true. In fact, there’s hasn’t been much positive to report about RR recently.
AD has been covering all the contenders pretty much equally.
I don’t understand how someone can make a bold statement (marriage pressures in 1955 are distinct from 1961), use it to defend his claim that Revolutionary Road shouldn’t be compared to Mad Men (which is a subsidiary to his argument that Revolutionary Road is the best movie of ‘08), and back that claim with weak evidence. Additionally, it’s even more frustrating when AD cites this article as if its credible. No one has offered a defense of the claim, yet we should be convinced from this dude that Rev Road is the best movie of 2008? It may very well be, but his argument may not be sound, and no one is defending his claim. Anyone can make a bold generalization that marriage pressures were distinct in certain years, but there needs to be a defense of the claim. The fact that Kennedy was President doesn’t mean much. The discrimination against African Americans wasn’t vastly changed after Kennedy became President. It took boycotts, and the civil rights movement in general to bring about change. Again, I don’t know much about the women’s contemporary cultural movement, but I’m confident that marriage pressures didn’t suddenly change because Kennedy became President, or because six years elapsed. For all I know, 1955 was identical to 1961 for women, and thus his last point might possibly be incorrect.
awardscircuit.com
Keith,
I’m not so sure we need to saddle up Revolutionary Road like a pack mule and make it carry a universal message that applies to every marriage in America from 1955 to 1965. It’s ultimately the story of one marriage, two people, and especially the story of one individual woman. April Wheeler doesn’t have to represent Women of the 1950s. She only has to authentically represent the life of one particular woman. Nobody asks that Llewelyn Moss represent all men from Texas in the 1980s, do they?
LaSalle might have made a syntax error in trying to pinpoint dates when one prevailing set of attitudes changed to another set. We all know things don’t change over night on New Year’s Eve. But isn’t it safe to assume — even without measurable evidence — that women became increasingly independent and self-reliant over the years in the middle of the last century? Individual women, and Women as a group? So what’s wrong with proposing that women had made gains and and social norms were evolving over a span of 6 or 7 years? It would be pretty absurd to assume no progress was made.
Someone please explain to me the great cultural, societal leap between 1955 and 1960, I’m not getting it:
Top-grossing films of 1955:
Lady and the Tramp
Cinerama Holiday
Mister Roberts
Battle Cry
Oklahoma!
Top-grossing films of 1960:
Swiss Family Robinson
Psycho
Spartacus
Exodus
The Alamo
#1 Nielsen rated television series 1955: I Love Lucy
#1 Nielsen rated television series 1960: Gunsmoke
1955 Pulitzer Prizes:
Drama: Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Fiction: William Faulkner, A Fable
Poetry: Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems
1960 Pulitzer Prizes:
Jerome Weidman, George Abbott for book, Jerry Bock for music, and Sheldon Harnick for lyrics, Fiorello!
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Allen Drury, Advise and Consent
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: W. D. Snodgrass, Heart’s Needle
Top singles of 1955:
Bill Haley & His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”
Tennessee Ernie Ford, “Sixteen Tons”
Four Aces, “Love is a Many Splendoured Thing”
Chuck Berry, “Maybellene”
Frank Sinatra, “Love & Marriage”
Top singles of 1960:
Elvis Presley, “It’s Now Or Never”
Elvis Presley, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
Chubby Checker, “The Twist”
The Drifters, “Save the Last Dance For Me”
Johnny Preston, “Running Bear”
U.S. President, 1955: Dwight D. Eisenhower
U.S. President, 1960: Dwight D. Eisenhower
U.S. divorce rate, 1955: 2.3/1000
U.S. divorce rate, 1960: 2.2/1000
It was a very ambitious effort and I appreciate what they were trying to do and for that I give them a lot of credit but aside from Kate’s performance and that of Michael Shannon’s, which were both amazing and emotionally rich and convincing, I found the movie rather boring and hollow. We’re told what to feel about these people and how they never live up to their dreams but I never felt emotionally connected to what I was watching. I loved Kate and Leo tried as hard as he could to show the angst his character goes through, but something just didn’t jell in his performance. I think he is a fine actor, I just think he’s rather miscast here. The rest was kind of clinical and matter of fact without capturing the strife anyone was going through.
Ryan,
Good points. However, even if it’s ultimately the story of one marriage, we are led to believe that the pressures of marriage for White women living in suburbia in 50s were roughly the same. Sure, some marriages were distinct, but from the movie there is the implication that white women (living in suburbia) were severely limited. Again, I’m not sure if this is factually true or not, but that goes beyond the scope of our argument.
LaSalle seems to argue that there was, socially, a fundamental difference between married women in the mid 50s and early 60s. However, this may not be true. Although there may have been progress for women from ‘55 – ‘61, it doesn’t imply that much changed within the institution of marriage for white women in suburbia. If one argues that there were relevant distinctions between certain years, then the burden of proof lies on him . Again, there may have been progress between ‘55-’61, but it might have been small to the point of being inconsequential (that is, the affects weren’t really felt by white suburban women in the early 60s). —-> I’m not sure if any of this is factually correct, but LaSalle opened the door to such speculation. My point is that his lack of evidence leads to such wondering, which ultimately weakens his argument.
This movie could have been a masterpiece. It probably has some of the best acting, directing, and technical production I’ve seen this year. Unfortunately, the adaptation SUCKS. Seriously. The story architecture is so disorganized and uneven and much of the dialogue is so absurd and cheesy that many of the parts that should have been jaw-droppingly moving were actually laughable and awkward. It’s as if Kate and Leo got together and said “Wow, we really deserve Oscars. Let’s make a movie that looks really good where all we do is scream at each other and maybe we’ll finally win.” This is NOT one of the best films of the year by any stretch.
Mendes’ treated it like a stage production, and thats where I think it fails. The arguments are too over the top and even the subtle elements hit you over the head with a bat.
Everyone’s a critic, particularly when it comes to RR.
A friend of mine asked me the other day: That if Bergman and Cassavetes were both alive, would they have both liked the film or at least the performances of Winslet and Di Caprio?
Would anyone care to answer this question for me?
“Everyone’s a critic, particularly when it comes to…”
The Dark Knight
WALL-E
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
etc.
Haha…yeah now everyone’s a critic. RR really makes us debate our heads off.
People really liked talking about this whether they like it or not and I think this is what they(the filmmakers) had in mind. I think Mendes and Winslet didn’t do this film to swoon us but rather to have us make a stand.
Consider this! This is a movie that is “anti-marriage” and the idea of settling down, end of dreams yada yada…. look at mendes and winslet, they are happily married. But why did they do this film, maybe they realized that the wheeler’s story deserved to be told to everyone.
Why don’t they just get a divorce? I pity those people who use this argument. Come on man, don’t you see they love each other? They just have different expectations in life.
I think this is a fine movie and it will be appreciated someday but not in this generation.
When Kate Winslet was beating those eggs after the killer fight last night, I told myself that she deserve to be called the best actress of this generation.
Imagine that! Winslet won the Oscar just by beating eggs. Hahahaha! How’s that for her detractors?
:::::::::::: SPOILER :::::::::::::
Furiously and methodically beating the eggs at breakfast as prelude to the inconvenient egg whose outcome she’d be trying to beat later that afternoon. Isn’t a harness chained to the yolk?
Honestly, I don’t understand the hype about this film. In my opinion it was a complete disappointment!!!. the performances are good especially Dicaprio and Shannon not Winslet, her performance here are way too mannered, it is just like she was the jeepney waiting to be started with the key to turn the wheels to get going. I think her performance in Little Children are much much better than this one!!!!
I had a feeling that she won’t even get nominated for this and she lacks the BFCA nom- one of the most important predictors in acting nominations. The film is just too sad, too depressive with no ray of hope , no wit, not even humor.
Now I understand why it was slammed down by critics and precursors.
Hoffman and others:
I am tired of hearing that this is like a stage production, not only because a small cast and constricted setting generally lends that feeling anyway, but also because it simply works! This style only enhances the feeling of being smothered and trapped in suburban hell.
For those of you that think the arguments were over-the-top, I really wish I could invite you over for dinner one night. And if things are subtle, they can not by nature hit you over the head with a bat. Getting hit over the head with a bat is the hummingbird in Curious Case. People *do* talk about their dreams and desires like the Wheeler’s. I am honestly just getting the vibe that those who didn’t like this movie are numb to their own “ridiculous delusions.”
I say, give it 10 years.
I say, give it 10 years.
I agree. Think of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ten years after its release, it was considered a cult classic. In time it became the second highest-grossing film of 1975 and thirty years after its release, in 2005, it was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Can’t you just see the midnight showings of Revolutionary Road? All together: “Do you want me to scream again, Frank?”
Well, this movie certainly pulls down some hard shit with some soundly on one side and others not. Anyone who thinks the mid 50’s and the early 60’s were one and the same don’t know anything about the time period. I grew up in these two time zones and they were different. One was all about conforming and feeling trapped and the other about being on the cusp of major change. They were in many ways as different as the early 60’s and the late 60’s. Anyone here who can’t relate a little better to that time zone? BTW, I’ve watched both seasons of Mad Men and RR.
I’ve been saying that for weeks: “Revolutionary Road” is a masterpiece. It’s the best film of 2008, other than the brilliant “Synecdoche, New York”. Curiously, both have been slammed by a large chunk of critics, but I’m confidant that time will prove me right.
Thank you very much, Sasha. I’m ecstatic. This note has made my day.
Some asked: A friend of mine asked me the other day: That if Bergman and Cassavetes were both alive, would they have both liked the film or at least the performances of Winslet and Di Caprio?
Would anyone care to answer this question for me?
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Who really knows? I suspect Cassavetes would have liked the way Mendes was relentless in showing us the dark side of the Wheeler marriage and the confrontational acting scenes of Winslet and DiCaprio.
It’s funny you bring up Bergman. A friend of mine had written me that she found RR relentlessly grim and I said that a few decades ago, Bergman made one grim movie after another and no one complained. I wonder if Mendes had thought about Scenes from a Marriage when he directed this.
Blizzards wrote:
Why don’t they just get a divorce? I pity those people who use this argument. Come on man, don’t you see they love each other? They just have different expectations in life.
I think this is a fine movie and it will be appreciated someday but not in this generation.
When Kate Winslet was beating those eggs after the killer fight last night, I told myself that she deserve to be called the best actress of this generation.
Imagine that! Winslet won the Oscar just by beating eggs. Hahahaha! How’s that for her detractors?
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When Charlie Rose spoke to DiCaprio and Winslet on his show last week, DiCaprio said that he felt that Frank and April were going in two different directions and that their relationship would never last, no matter what they did. So I think they may have been in love in the beginning but their aspirations broke them apart.
As far as the “beating eggs” theory goes, I really like that. I have to say that kitchen scene is one of the best scenes in the movie.
And in response to Steve, who questioned the hype around this movie, I would say that there really is no hype. In fact, there is anti-hype. It’s being pegged as a dark, gloomy film that Academy voters find it hard to sit down and watch.
I just watch it, it’s incredible….
Great performances from Leo and Kate, for me way better than Little Children but because their different histories and marriage problems
It’ll be a shame if Leo, Kate and the movie won’t get nominatios, with time people will regret it, because for me it was an excellent film
Daveylow: RR definitely is a Bergmanesque chamber drama, so relentless and grim in its dissection of the Wheeler marriage. In fact, I have never seen malaise and the disintegration of a marraige played out so convincingly
onscreen since Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage.
My hat’s off to both Ms. Winslet and Mr. Di Caprio. They not only have this terrific, spot-on chemistry onscreen but also talent of such great magnitude that they can really elevate any material they’re given to perform. They both deserve the Oscar.
There really is no clear front runner this year.
Hahaha. this year is soooooo exciting.
I think Doubt or RR might be in and MILK out.
[...] is the film that critics will ‘discover’ years from now” scenario (see Awards Daily) argument is self-negating and leads to it being “discovered” now. Also known as the [...]
Kate Winslet really needs to stop playing these rich priviliged whining malcontents. (Think the ridiculous Madame Bovary rehash, Little Children.) Try working at Wal-mart to support your family, or digging a ditch in the third world-That’s suffering. Suffering is not living in a comfortable perfect suburban home and choosing to make a mess of your life. That’s stupidity. There’s a reason only rich Landmark Latte sippers go to this mastrubatory drivel.
When Charlie Rose spoke to DiCaprio and Winslet on his show last week, DiCaprio said that he felt that Frank and April were going in two different directions and that their relationship would never last, no matter what they did. So I think they may have been in love in the beginning but their aspirations broke them apart.
No, Frank starts acting like an adult, and April more and more becomes a mentally imbalanced adolescent.
I can’t wade through all these posts to see if this has already been stated: Winslet, in the dance scene with the neighbor, mimics a bird dancing during a mating ritual and the music fades aways…stunning…and when she is at the window and blood runs down her leg, she begins to move away mechanically…now the expression “move mechanically” I’ve heard all my life, but NEVER have I seen it visually translated and choreographed with such precision…
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