by The Great White Gypsy

It is cold as I step out of the movie theater into the January air.  The streets are empty.  I am distraught.  I feel hopeless, sad, sinking.  Someone has broken my heart.  Someone has turned life upside down and kicked it in the teeth.  Someone has put me through so much over the last two hours, that I’m contemplating the best way to kill myself.

Why did you do that, Sam Mendes?  Why?

Film is about the suspension of disbelief.  It is about emotionally manipulating the audience, without making them feel like they’re being manipulated.  It takes a great director to do it well, and Sam Mendes is a great director.  American Beauty was an amazing debut.  Road to Perdition was the most beautifully crafted gangster movie in years.  Jarhead made me respect Jake Gyllenhaal.  And, though they weren’t the most uplifting films, they all had a dramatic flair, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and amazing visuals that made me feel good about the film.

Revolutionary Road, as a story, was a perfect project for Mendes.  Based on the Richard Yates novel, and written for the screen by Justin Haythe (The Clearing), it is the story of a young couple (DiCaprio and Winslet) living in 1950’s Connecticut, trying to wrestle their personal demons, raise two children, balance their life dreams, and still maintain that “everything’s coming up roses”, picture perfect ‘50’s façade.  And technically (as far as camera work, editing, music, etc.) it is a well-crafted film.  I could tell two minutes in that it was Mendes behind the camera.  Stylistically, it was much like Road to Perdition, in that the modern, artful camera work and cinematography juxtaposed the time period and the film genre.  The main difference?

This one made me want to slit my wrists with a butter knife.

The first three minutes are good.  Happy, even.  Leo and Kate meet at a party.  They make eye contact, start a nice conversation, and slow dance.  Even in such a short time, Mendes shows you the beauty of a new relationship.  And then he takes it all away.  That is as happy as those two characters are in the film, and they are never that happy again.  The very next scene leads into a horrible fight between the now-married couple on the side of the interstate.  And for the next two hours, we have to squint to catch glimpses of happiness and hope, dreams and plans, amidst some of the most horrible, gut wrenching fights I’ve seen on screen in years.  This is Closer without the explicit sexual references.  This is The Break-Up without humor.

Several years ago, I was discussing a movie with a friend.  I liked it.  She didn’t.  She said that the audience was put through too much in the film, and the ending didn’t make up for it.  That is how I feel about Revolutionary Road.  There is no happiness, no hope, no second chances.  It is predictable in a way that, though you know what’s going to happen, you really, really don’t want it to.  You want so badly for things to work out ok, and the ending is a swift metaphorical kick to the emotional groin when you’re already begging for mercy.

There are several highlights in the film.  Michael Shannon’s character is perfect, a young man recently released from a psychiatric ward.  He is the only one willing to call the couple out on their problems, showing that, in the 1950’s, it takes a psycho to cut through the bullcrap and really see things.  There is also an amazing scene at the end that again reminded me of Road to Perdition.  However, a few scenes in this film feel forced.  The acting is off, the dialogue feels contrived; surprising, really, for two established actors.  That is the only detraction from the technical side of things.  However, I highly doubt that this will be nominated for any awards, and I hesitate to even add it to my Mendes DVD collection.  It is a great film, and a horrible story, and I’m not sure I would sit through it again.

Final Grade: B+

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