Simply Perfect

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Unless we are terminally ill, prisoners of war or unemployed in the Third World, we usually have at least two ways to look at our situation in life. The couple in this film, who were apparently created by a book author, not a screenwriter or director, chose the "glass half empty" way. They had a beautiful home, healthy children, friends, and youth, but they were miserable because they thought life was supposed to be more romantic. I don't think their dream of that way of life is illegitimate or stupid. There are people who live in bohemian cities, toil in the arts and don't have children, and that may be a satisfying way to go. I believe that these people could have made other choices besides marriage, kids, and suburban life. But that's what they chose. Having said that we don't see any depiction of activities in the suburbs beyond the basics. Yet suburban people often do volunteer work, have multiple hobbies, go to church, and get into the city for the arts when they can. All of those things alleviate whatever inherent boredom comes with the territory. All these people do is dwell on their misery. These dark commentaries on suburban life often focus on Godless sorts. People who believe that their own daily existence is the center of the universe often get disappointed when they realize that it's not. But they have nothing to fill the void. It's true what the other reviewers said that we didn't get much in the way of initial character development, but we did get a few basics and we heard more later. I thought the acting was good, but the scenes with the disturbed son of their realtor were too frequent and too heavy handed. They should have had one good scene of dialogue with him and left it at that. He was excruciating to watch. Don't be so sure that the film makers or author are mocking the 50s or suburbia. Through their characters they explain the pointlessness of thinking that some other romantic life is out there. For most of us this is all there is and that's o.k. The 50s or any time are what we make of them. None of the immoral decisions that people make in this film are considered cool. We see the guilt and anguish in those who commit them. There's actually some great dialog including statements about immaturity, the annoying nature of over-talking and over-analyzing, and the fact that the grass is not always greener somewhere else. Seven Stars. It was way too depressing to enjoy and lacked any balance in the form of say at least one couple that was genuinely happy and functional.

Superb performance by the leads draw the viewers into a not-so-unfamiliar suburban family drama. What makes the film so appealing is that it speaks directly to so many married couples. If we don't see resemblances of our lives in the film, we would see it in our friends' and relatives'.Through all the fights and drama, we alternatively sympathize with the husband and the wife. The great cast of neighbors enliven the story. The film leads the viewers on an emotional ride as April (Kate Winslet) and Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) hit a rough patch, reconcile, then descend into further chaos. We are inclined to "take side" in the couple conflict, but as the story unfolds, who is responsible for the crumbling relationship and who is the strong one becomes less clear cut.The film beautifully explores the emotion and characters of a loving couple in crisis when both realized that they had fallen into domesticity and might be missing out on life (or maybe not). It leaves us pondering about the choices we've made and the life we've resigned to.

I can totally understand why so many people didn't like this film: First of all, you don't get the beautiful ever after with this two amazing actors full of good chemistry, and it's a shame but it doesn't make the movie less amazing. And the second thing is that you don't get all your plot holes filled but why would they? I think it would be totally boring if every movie answered all your questions. I really enjoyed the acting, it felt so real and pure, this two were made for this art, and the movie it also has the relatable factor, because we all in one point of our lifes get as crazy as this characters, it makes you feel like you are not the only one, and that is spectacular.

The dream is set: wife and husband with two kids will leave everything behind in suburban America and live in Paris where life and personal ambition can be achieved and, more so, felt. It's a dream. It barely rings logically now in the 21st century. So, how can it hold water during the 1950s? It should first be mentioned that this is no Leonardo DiCaprio-Kate Winslet reunion with foggy window love on a sinking ship. Winslet's character, April Wheeler, is the one who brings up Paris, and it's up to her neighbors, her husband's coworkers, and her husband, Frank (DiCaprio), to accept the venture as reality. Whiskey, chain-smoking, and superficial conversation among plastic covered couches go against whimsical idealism with an Eiffel Tower on the side. This is an easy win for the 'burbs.I loved this movie, but I also think it encompasses its own specific audience. If you enjoyed American Beauty, you are in for an enjoyably intense experience. Sam Mendes directed both, and, as a side note, Kate Winslet is his real-life wife. Mendes seems to be obsessed with what really happens behind the walls of so-called happily married families with white picket fences. It's not that he sees the suburban life as sinister; it's just too ordinary. We root for April and Frank, but we also know that a job promotion, a third child, and skeptic friends will pull them away from the dream.Watching DiCaprio and Winslet, it is difficult to remember these were the two lovebirds in Titanic. Here, their on-screen relationship is more real and fragile. They are flawed, and it is useless to assign blame as each one is genuinely trying to keep the marriage together in a low divorce rate era. Along with their first-rate chemistry, Michael Shannon gives a humorous performance as John Givings, a neighbor just released from a mental asylum with more sense than anyone in the movie.All in all, Revolutionary Road is a meticulous study of a marriage in crisis. It works best if the viewer is prepared for a tragedy to question, learn from, or simply embrace.