I just saw a special screening of this movie. What a complete turd. Pure melodramatic crap. Is there one entertaining moment in this thing? No. It's like an episode of Mad Men written by the worst soap opera writer in the world. It's hard to believe that anyone is taking this junk seriously. And what's the point? That people are unhappy? Even when they live in the suburbs? Wow. How profound.
Originally posted by Peewee: It's hardly fair to reduce a movie to an incredibly simplistic and banal message, and then say the movie is lousy because it is simplistic and banal.
Right. Most movies (and dare I say some of the best movies) can be summed up in one simple message. A good movie is usually good because of how it's crafted, not because of the subject matter. On the flip side, I've seen a lot of films with great sounding premises that are very poorly executed.
I've not seen Revolutionary Road yet, but it sounds similar to Sam Mendes first directorial feature, the terrific American Beauty, so I'm looking forward to it.
I also think DiCaprio and Winslet are two of the better actors working today, so it's hard to believe it would outright suck.
----- Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.
Posts: 5926 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 19 June 2005
You guys are on the money. Something can be simplistic and profound at the same time. I don't understand why some people don't understand that you can two schools of thought in your head at the same time.
And you guys should read the 1961 best-selling book by the same title that movie is based on. Mendes with some exceptions stays very true to book. The only thing that is not in the film is the personal background of The Wheelers before they marry which explains some of their angst and dysfunction. Mendes actually shot that footage, but it ended up on the cutting room floor.
It spoke to some real deep issues that we all struggle with.
The fact that Revolutionary Road deals with some deep issues may be one reason many people have a hard time with it. It sort of strikes a raw nerve. I found the existential issues pretty real, so I liked the story.
Existential issues aside, however, I think the acting in this movie was just amazing. DiCaprio and Winslet seem to be able to go from hateful, ugly people to sympathetic, alluring people in a matter of seconds. I am not sure how they accomplish this. Winslet especially was remarkable at this. To me it seemed at times she was just horribly ugly with red ears and a big nose in one scene, and then a moment later sometimes in the same scene she would somehow become tremendously beautiful and alluring by some change of light and expression and the way she moved her body. Was I just imagining this or did anyone else notice it?
Here is my take on the movie that I posted on IMDb:
"Revolutionary Road" is easily one of the more complex and inconsistently brilliant movies flecked with flaws this year. It is both stunning and irritatingly frustrating in its delivery. From the beginning "Revolutionary Road" recklessly and immediately jumps into an overly quick and much too brief a dive into a passionate relationship between Leo DeCaprio and Kate Winslet and then cuts to Kate Winslet's somewhat questionable but deliberate performance on stage as her character's ambition as an actress. Suddenly we are then transported into the future where we see our "perfect couple" with the requisite two children who seem to be conveniently missing for most of this movie. There are snatches of what seem to be flashbacks in order to provide some meaningful continuity and emotional connections which may have been better suited to a linear chronological presentation (as the flashbacks seem to disappear a third of the way into the movie). Kathy Bates is wonderful in the first half of this movie with her nuanced performance.
The plot, screenplay attempts to be strong and edgy and at times it appears to succeed, yet some of the dialogue, especially the heated arguments between Leo and Kate seem awkward and artificial at times. Nevertheless, the substantive plot points are solid and meaningfully presented as difficult dramatic elements that are successfully performed on screen. Yet for all the dazzle and flash, it is difficult to believe that the values and implicit directorial outcome of this movie might not be stained with a dislocated overlay of contemporary 21st Century morality over the actual 50s mentality and value system.
In order to make his big point and climax in the movie somewhat like "American Beauty" (1999), "Revolutionary Road" has its big scene that is not quite as satisfying because the movie continues on trying to make a statement and tie up some loose connections that even begins to resemble a horror film ending where the whole experience could repeated over again and again. While the basic statement of this movie might be legitimate, it doesn't necessarily seem consistent with the reality of the 50s and the outcome and some of the script appear to be more dramatized and made up and imposed on the societal norms of the 50s.
Who is "crazy" in this movie is an interesting question. Whether childish, rash notions of finding oneself here or elsewhere is the point and whether one can actually find one's self by relocating somewhere else without first examining one's inner demon's first is questionable. Overall, this movie is powerful, compelling, but appears tainted by some questionable editing decisions (one brief scene where Kate Winslet is looking away from her house instead of at it after a flashback regarding how wonderful the house seemed to reduce the emotional flow of the scene), some questionable dialogue choices and arguments that feel somewhat flat, and the imposition of basic premises regarding the culture of the 50s our assuming we can impose our beliefs of today onto it.
Eight out of Ten Stars.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: tabuno,
Posts: 1483 | Location: Utah, United States | Registered: 22 July 2005
Who is "crazy" in this movie is an interesting question. Whether childish, rash notions of finding oneself here or elsewhere is the point and whether one can actually find one's self by relocating somewhere else without first examining one's inner demon's first is questionable.
Very insightful review. I think the heart and soul of this film lie in the interesting questions that you note. Do people have real selves? Is communication or love possible? So many other reviews on this film seem to entirely miss what the film was about, or reduce it to some essay on the 50's. I don't know about your feeling of current values being imposed upon the material. Those kind of existential questions come more from the late 50's and the 60's than they do from our current times, which are in many ways more shallow (and perhaps more conformist though in a different way) than the 50's.
Dale M. Participant Posted 08 February 2009 04:04 PM Hide Post quote: Who is "crazy" in this movie is an interesting question. Whether childish, rash notions of finding oneself here or elsewhere is the point and whether one can actually find one's self by relocating somewhere else without first examining one's inner demon's first is questionable.
Very insightful review. I think the heart and soul of this film lie in the interesting questions that you note. Do people have real selves? Is communication or love possible? So many other reviews on this film seem to entirely miss what the film was about, or reduce it to some essay on the 50's. I don't know about your feeling of current values being imposed upon the material. Those kind of existential questions come more from the late 50's and the 60's than they do from our current times, which are in many ways more shallow (and perhaps more conformist though in a different way) than the 50's.
What you may be experiencing is the fault/cause of an undergraduate degree in philosophy.
Posts: 1483 | Location: Utah, United States | Registered: 22 July 2005
