Revolutionary Road – Movie Review

Revolutionary Road is not a movie that you watch for entertainment. Based during the 1950s, this story of the suburban couple April and Frank Wheeler hits you below the belt. Revolutionary Road is based on a novel by Richard Yates that did pretty well for itself on the award circuit. I saw this years ago but stumbled on it again on Netflix recently and I decided to rewatch it.

The Plot

April Wheeler, a desperate housewife, yearns to run away from the monotony of her surroundings. Her husband, Frank Wheeler, stuck in a dead-end job tries to infuse some excitement in his life with a fling at work. April and Frank are ordinary people, who like most ordinary people think they have the potential to be special.
April decides that the only way out of her stifling environment is to go to Paris, where she can support the family and Frank can discover his passion for whatever he is good at.

Enamored by the idea, they start planning their life around Paris. Love is back in their marriage. Both feel young and foolish again. However, you realize they will never make it to Paris. Frank suddenly gets a lot of recognition at work. His job is no longer hateful to him. April conceives which becomes a more obvious reason not to go to Paris.

Both April and Frank are remarkably self-centered, and under the illusion that they have sacrificed their lives for each other. April is convinced that Paris is what Frank needs and she will give up her steady life so that he can live his dream. But as the movie progresses, you know it’s April who really wishes to be someone and somewhere else. Frank just adds to her guilt complex. Their meetings with the crazy neighbor only bring out the insanity in their lives.

Revolutionary Road is such a sequence of tragedies. For example, the scene where April apologizes to Frank about getting pregnant and telling him that she can get rid of it and it won’t come in the way of his dreams. Or where Frank, when confessing his affair to April, makes it sound as if it’s her fault. The most moving scene of it all is when Frank suggests that April needs a shrink because she is obsessed with going to Paris.

Kate Winslet is remarkable and I liked the way she plays the role of the troubled April in such a calm and sophisticated manner. I have been a huge DiCaprio fan since I watched Blood Diamond. With age, his boyish looks have gone giving his features a hard-edged quality, which is ideal for this role. His acting is obviously incredible.

Should you watch Revolutionary Road?

Absolutely yes! I recommend this movie if you are willing to get out of your daily comfort zone and think. Check out the trailer. Revolutionary Road is streaming on Netflix.

For more movie reviews, go here