Retro Film Review: Revolutionary Road (2008)

It is interesting how time can be merciless towards the reputation of certain films that once set box offices ablaze. One of the best examples is Cameron's Titanic – the commercially most successful film of 20th Century, which even the most seasoned critics were afraid to rate lower than top marks, yet a decade latter it was winning polls for the worst film ever made.

The passage of time, which allowed both critics and film enthusiasts to ask "how could this rubbish win Oscar," has also provided some answers that fans of the film had sought at the premiere. One such question – what if the ship had not sunk and Jack and Rose had stayed together – might find some sort of answer in Sam Mendes' film Revolutionary Road.

In the film, adapted from Richard Yates' eponymous novel, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet portray what could be interpreted as alternative version of the ill-fated love couple from "Titanic." At the very beginning, we can see what would have happened to Jack and Rose had the ship missed the iceberg, docked in New York, and allowed them to overcome all class and social issues, thus continuing a shared life that would ultimately culminate in marriage, children, and family.

The utopia for which so many tears were shed in late 1990s theatres is set in Revolutionary Road, Connecticut, one of mid 1950s America’s suburbs – a time-space coordinate that every American snobbish intellectual ever since has considered an embodiment of middle class conformity. DiCaprio thus transforms from a bohemian painter into Frank Wheeler, an office worker in a faceless corporation who occasionally dreams of becoming a writer. Winslet plays his wife April, a homemaker and mother of two children, whose own acting ambitions are brutally cut short at the start of the film by the debacle of an amateur production of The Petrified Forest.

April feels constrained by her conventional life, similar to her alter ego in Titanic, and when acting is no longer an option, she finds an alternative in the idea of moving with her husband and family to "gay," exotic Paris where she would work as a secretary at NATO headquarters. Frank, also frustrated with his mundane office job, is initially excited about this impending change in their lives, but his enthusiasm quickly cools when he is offered a promotion at his regular job. April, however, refuses to give up her illusions despite her husband's attempts to convince her that this is the best of all possible worlds. Even an unplanned pregnancy does not deter her from her dreams, and increasing tension between the couple leads to inevitable tragedy.

The novel, published back in 1961, has been subject to Hollywood interest for decades, but most contemporary audiences will perceive it as some sort of sequel, remake or prequel to American Beauty. Both films share the same director – Sam Mendes, who was at the time married to Kate Winslet – and both strive to depict American suburbs as places populated by deeply unhappy, frustrated people who feel just as trapped as Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

However, unlike American Beauty, which portrayed such a dark vision as the flipside of 1990s Clinton's utopia, Revolutionary Road plays it safe by setting its plot in the 1950s – a time before sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll; a world before black messiahs become leaders of the "Free World." The audience – at least that “demanding,” “artistic” segment that this film's creators aim to reach – is no longer at risk of finding distorted and perverse images of themselves in dreams about marriage, nuclear families, secure jobs, two beautiful children, large cars and big houses in suburbs. Both characters are depicted as weaklings betraying their youthful ideals; however, DiCaprio's Frank is portrayed as a sexist, adulterer and potential abuser while Winslet’s April must navigate dilemmas and challenges that women in our enlightened post-feminist age no longer face.

Nevertheless, the protagonists' separation from today's audience exacerbates the same problem that plagued "Revolutionary Road" – one of the most overrated Oscar winners. Viewers have no one to root for; all characters are either irritatingly stupid – like Frank's mistress played by Zoe Kasdan– weaklings or unsympathetic figures like Kathy Bates who plays Helen Givings, attempting to turn this realistic drama into a horror story akin to Misery. The only character deserving sympathy is John Givings (played by Michael Shannon), a recovering mental patient who telegraphs to Frank and April what is wrong with their lives; unfortunately, Shannon plays this role with an obvious (and ultimately successful) effort to secure an Oscar nomination at the expense of his character's authenticity and believability.

For ordinary audiences, two hours of Revolutionary Road will feel far longer than three hours of Titanic, while experienced cinephiles will see it as yet another example of today's increasingly irritating genre of Oscar-bait films. Although Mendes does his job well – having honed his craft in theatre – and both DiCaprio and Winslet strive to earn their statuettes, it still resembles a Hollywood late-year film– an adaptation of prestigious literary work that average audiences have never heard of, filled with physically and mentally challenged characters facing death, madness, illness, boredom and life's absurdity where everything is subordinated to securing at least one golden statuette. Even when they succeed in obtaining an Oscar, these films quickly fade from memory—especially for those viewers who entered cinemas expecting entertainment and were seduced by big names on posters.

It is unlikely that this film will escape the same fate despite its technical polish; it attempts to portray a life that every office drone dreams about—a life that seems increasingly unattainable for more and more audiences during these dark times. Revolutionary Road shows that whether fictional characters or pretentious filmmakers are involved—one does not need to board a ship to experience shipwreck.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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