Suburban life has no place on the silver screen. We’ve seen the dissection of America’s white upper-middle class in films time and again, always arriving at the same conclusion: that the suburban ant farm is a cul-de-sac of regrets. The choice of outcomes are never any better than either lies, total denial, divorce or—if extra dramatic flair is required—death.
Almost ten years ago, Sam Mendes directed a wickedly funny presentation of this theory in American Beauty. This latest entry from him, however, is not so well-humored. It argues for the utter disintegration of the traditional American family rather than merely satirizing it. By setting it in the “good old days” of the 1950’s, it’s also directly commenting on the nuclear family belief of the time as a crock—a stifling bondage put on people before the coming arrival of the more progressive 1960’s (when the original novel this film is based on was first published).
Opening with the first meeting of Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler, it then immediately fast-forwards to an already dark period of their eventual marriage. On the drive home from a local play in which April had a less than desirable performance in, the Wheelers suddenly explode into a shouting match, listing each other’s faults and ending with Frank cooling his impulse to hit his wife. All this before the movie’s title card even reared its head yet. Revolutionary Road—also the name of the stretch the Wheelers live on, a cruel joke all things considered.
That opening scene is a template for what happens in the two pessimistic hours that follow. The film’s narrative is not so much a story as it is a step-by-step snapshot of how a marriage slowly rots and eventually perishes. April still clutches to the dream of being a glamorous actress and resents the housewife conformity she’s trapped in. While Frank, miserably toiling away at a sales job, never had a dream of his own, finding more satisfaction in wooing a perky co-worker (Zoe Kazan) for afternoon affairs. The Wheelers discover a brief amnesty when they agree to start a new life in Paris, but that too become a point of conflict soon enough.
The format of the film is supposed to provide a platform for DiCaprio and Winslet to uncork their acting talents, but what shows up on screen is a ridiculous feat of delirious overacting. Winslet revisits her character from Little Children (only WAY angrier), while DiCaprio does a cross between a Jimmy Stewart impression and the crying fits he used to do in his 90’s roles. Neither of these thesps are particularly awful, but the dialogue given certainly didn’t help. There’s no subtext here; these two scream all the thematic points and character evaluations whenever they argue, leaving none for the audience to decipher.
The bias that drives the film is what hurts it the most. Mendes clearly sides with April, painting her as a martyr in the custody of an emotionally abusive husband. The film wants to be a passive feminist story, when the material is not at all a case of a battered wife. It’s too lenient with April's mistakes, too neat in deeming Frank the villain; when what happens is the mutual rupture of a love—and life—gone horribly stale. Enter Michael Shannon’s small but very memorable role as a hilariously candid mental patient asked to befriend the Wheelers, who then psychoanalyzes their marriage and rightly points out that while Frank is a gutless drone, April has always played an active role as the restless and vindictive one of the two. If only the film listened to him.
Furthermore, the final moments of Revolutionary Road is a regrettable cheat dabbling in shock value. It turn the spotlight towards a hot button topic that distracts from the real issue, which is the Wheelers’ compatibility as a couple. Not to mention that for the most part, the film disregards the children’s impact in the equation. Revolutionary Road treats the Wheeler kids like a bad parent: showing them off when it’s time to appear as a picturesque family, and suspiciously ignoring them when Mom and Dad are playing tug-of-war. It’s too preoccupied with the superficial squabbles, while not providing much in terms of testing the family relationships.
It’s a bleak and angry film. No couple featured in it is safe from defamation. Even an elderly couple’s story finishes on the husband turning off his hearing aid so he won’t have to hear his wife talk. The real secret to a long-lasting marriage, according to the film, is to shun thy spouse before one destroys the other.
"Revolutionary Road" opens December 26, 2008 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Justin Haythe (screenplay), Richard Yates (novel). Starring David Harbour, Kate Winslet, Kathryn Hahn, Kathy Bates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Shannon.
