Left Field Cinema

Revolutionary Road was a much-praised film from 2008, which garnered a myriad of award nominations, but only really achieved one 'major' success for Kate Winslet at the Golden Globes. And that speaks volumes about the flaws in the film. It's a glossy, beautiful work with some terrific performances from a stellar cast, but ultimately leaves the viewer out in the cold...

April and Frank Wheeler are a lovely couple. They seem to be a living embodiment of The 1950s American Dream. But, in fact, they're not. This 'groundbreaking' premise plunges the viewer into the depths of their despair from practically the second scene of the movie, and leaves us there. It's serious, and it's worthy, and it tackles issues about marriage and relationships and American suburbia and attitudes to the family and (in the opinion of this reviewer) it collapses under the weight of all this 'importance' to be significantly less than the sum of its not inconsiderable parts.

Nevertheless there is a lot that is good about this film. Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet are both terrific. However, although 'Mrs Mendes' received multiple award nominations, DiCaprio received none. He didn't have to look haggard against his natural beauty, and Frank is perhaps less borderline biploar than April, but his performance is terrific: at moments we get violent rage, innocent joy, downtrodden resignation and frustrated impotence.

It's beautifully shot by Roger Deakins, with some striking scenes and images, especially of Frank's daily commute, and the social awkwardness of the suburban 1950s. The colour palette is gorgeous and there are many shots that could be still compositions. The production design is also terrific.

The strongest part of the film by a country mile is the role played by Michael Shannon, tremendous as a kind of Shakespearean Fool, saying all the things we know are lurking beneath the glossy social veneer but that everyone is too scared to admit...

"Hopeless emptiness. Now you've said it. Plenty of people are onto the emptiness, but it takes real guts to see the hopelessness."

In only a couple of brief scenes he tears asunder the delusions of not only Frank and April's American Dream, but also the entire film. It's cold, empty and doesn't seem to stand for much. Perhaps this is the point of the film, to expose the shallowness of The American Dream and to make us feel the aching void that Frank and April's marriage has become.

However, even if this is the case, there are several flaws this reviewer couldn't overcome.

1. Frank and April aren't very likeable. Mendes gives us hhardly anything upfront to help us engage with their youthful aspirations, happiness and self-proclaimed 'specialness'. Within minutes of the start the film forces us to see how unhappy they are: there are constant references to 'why are we living here?' when in fact they just seem to be deeply miserable, self-pitying narcissists who aren't very deserving of our sympathy.

2. They have two children, but we barely see them much beyond singing 'Happy Birthday' in one scene. They never feature in Frank and April's oh-so-depressing-suburban drudgery: there's no school run, no 5am-wake-ups. The house is spotless, devoid of toys or any signs they even live there.

3. The film seems very conscious of its own importance. Many scenes are hugely stage-y, lines weighed down with portentous pauses and beats as though the writer and director want us to dwell on their gravitas. About half-way through the film, April and Frank are arguing (again), and one of them (April I think, but I can't rememeber, it's probably not that important) shouts "for once can we just stop talking?". At which point this reviewer raised his eyes to the heavens and cried out Hallelujah! Just. Stop. Talking. Please.

And once again Mendes employs his near trademark mood-music-score that hints at gentle comfort, but you know actually means 'this isn't going to end well'. It's like American Beauty on different instruments.

Watching Revolutionary Road feels isolating rather than immersive. The detachment and observational style leaves the viewer divorced from the people and their stories, observing from a distance that is both physical and emotional. So when April finally takes a decisive action, we are shocked, but not involved or invested in the action or its consequences. This diminishes its impact and ultimately means the film lives far less long in the memory than it might otherwise have done.

All of this is done much better by Mad Men. Watch January Jones as Betty Draper to see the tragedy and claustrophobia of suburbia, and John Hamm as Don Draper for the man who seemingly 'has it all' but doesn't feel fulfilled by it. Of course Mad Men is a TV series and has the luxury of time to create its world and depths for the character arcs. But this reviewer would much rather spend 10 hours with them than 2 hours with Sam Mendes' take on The American Nightmare.

Chris Moody