Revolutionary Road (2008)

Really good acting by both actors. I liked the small twists and turns thay they had to make you guess how the story is gonna unfold. I think how much one can enjoy this movie depends on how much they can relate to their situation. It's about young married American couple with two kids who all of a sudden decide to move to Paris for a chance of a fresh start.

Revolutionary Road really is a road, and it's where the two main characters, a married Leonardo DeCaprio and Kate Winslet, have purchased their first home from realtor Kathy Bates to raise their two children. It's in CT and Leonardo's character commutes into the city every day to a job he doesn't like and comes homes each night to Kate Winslet who is an unfulfilled actress. They're unhappy with their lives and devise a plan to suddenly move to Paris, thinking that is what they need to feel happy. Things don't go quite as planned though. I liked all of the performances and this film looked good too. Unfortunately the characters were somewhat flat and one dimensional. There is a lot of emotion put forth by the characters but as a viewer it's not really felt, only on display. I think there was a lot og good elements here but for me they don;t really add up to a satisfying experience.

This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. None of the characters are likable. A boring man and a horrible woman don't achieve their pipe dreams, so they have loads of blazing rows. This unlikeable couple shout at each other at the top of their voices over and over and over again. There was so much hype and praise heaped on this film and The Reader in 2008 - yet both films are dreadful. They're a waste of Kate Winslet's acting talent - she's great in Heavenly Creatures.

Sam Mendes had previously focused on the falsity of the suburban lifestyle with his Oscar-winning directorial debut "American Beauty". He returned to the topic with "Revolutionary Road". Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play a 1950s couple who abandoned their dream jobs in favor of a suburban lifestyle. Neither the husband nor the wife feels fulfilled. When they consider a change of pace, it exposes not only the flaws in their lifestyle but also in their relationship. And I mean with dire consequences.Suburban Gothic is a common theme in cinema. I have no doubt that what the movie depicts happened more often than we might think. Indeed, there are still instances of people giving up on their dreams to do what they think that society expects of them.Both DiCaprio and Winslet put on fine performances, as I expected. Far removed from their "Titanic" roles, their characters start out close but feel more and more distant from each other as the movie progresses. To be certain, there are some unpleasant scenes in the movie (but they do add to the plot). Also appearing is Leo and Kate's "Titanic" co-star Kathy Bates as a hypocritical realtor. Like "Death of a Salesman" and "Save the Tiger", the movie offers an acerbic look at the supposed idealism of the American dream. I recommend it, but remember that it's not an uplifting movie.