Movie Review: Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet for the first time since Rose let go of Jack’s hand and he sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This time Kate and Leo star as April and Frank Wheeler, a middle-class suburban couple who, despite looking like the all-American couple on the outside, are anything but on the inside. April is a miserable failed-actress-turned-housewife, who smokes like a chimney and drinks like a fish, despite being ten weeks pregnant. She thinks moving to Paris will shine a light on her otherwise dull lifestyle. Frank also smokes too much and has an affinity for alcohol and is stuck in a dead end job that is the bain of his existence. To make matters worse, the couple often mix their alcohol consumption with penis and vagina and we all know when that happens, the results are never a good thing. I am sure that given the choice, Frank or April would be more than happy to let the other sink to the bottom of the ocean. “Revolutionary Road” is basically about your typical unhappy American couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950’s.
Revolutionary Road has been getting rave reviews as one of the best movies of the year with some of the best performances of the year from Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who, as I write this review, has already won a Golden Globe for her role. Is it deserved? I’m not sure I would rank it as one of the best of the year but I thought it was decent. It certainly doesn’t hurt the movie that it stars one of the best actors and one of the best actresses in the world and it was directed by Sam Mendes who, in the past, has brought us “American Beauty”, “Road to Perdition” and “Jarhead”, amongst others. Getting a December release pretty much molds the general public’s mind to think, “It stars Leo and Kate, it’s directed by Mendes, it’s coming out during Oscar season, so it must be a good movie”. I’m sure if “Revolutionary Road” had been released in April, it would have been long forgotten. That’s not to say it’s a bad movie because it isn’t. I just found that not a whole lot happened for the first 90 minutes of “Revolutionary Road” and then the last 30 minutes was pretty damn good. I loved the final scene of the movie. Remind me to get a hearing aid when I’m about 80 years old.
The one other thing that stood out for me in this movie was Kate Winslet’s character. What’s wih her continuously accepting roles where she plays a bit of a skank? She cheated on her significant other in “Titanic”. She did it again in “Little Children”. And now in “Revolutionary Road”? Why Kate? And to top it all off, she didn’t even show her boobs this time around. At least in the other movies she graced us with the presence of those perfect cans. It is something that I look forward to in every Kate Winslet movie but sadly, it did not happen. They even teased us a couple of times with near nudity but never completely followed through. I tell ya, if there was one woman in Hollywood that I could spend a night with once in my life, even if it meant cheating, she’d be at the top of my list. Just as long as she didn’t smoke.
Speaking of smoking, watching “Revolutionary Road” reminded me how much I despise smoking and smokers. What a dirty, rotten habit that continues to exist in the world today. It reminded me of my childhood years, throughout the 1980’s and well into the 1990’s when the world would bend over and take it up the ass because of smokers. When non-smokers couldn’t sit in a restaurant and enjoy a meal or sit in a pub and enjoy a beer without their lungs filling up with second-hand smoke and their clothes and hair reeking of it. Even in this day and age, with smoking being banned in most public buildings throughout the civilized world, the smokers continue to pollute the environment and create unhealthy situations for those who wish to remain healthy. Have you ever tried to walk past, or into, most public buildings and have to fight your way through a crowd of smoking buffoons standing on the street and sidewalk, despite the non-smoking sign at the entrance of the building? Would it be any different if I walked up to some smoking numbskull and put my asshole right in front of their nose and farted? Do you think they would appreciate that? How about you take a walk down any city block and look on the group and tell me if you don’t see twenty cigarette butts on the ground and tell me logically why it is accepted in this world that smokers can throw their digusting cigarette butts on the ground and no one seems to care. Would it be any different if someone were drinking a can of pop and just dropped it on the ground when they were finished? Why do we accept this bullshit? If I had any sort of political clout in this world, I would make it illegal for smokers to drop their butts on the ground and if they did, I would make the police give them a $500 fine and lay a Rodney King-style beating on their ass. And don’t worry smokers, I’ve heard you guys whining about “where are we supposed to throw them”. You know what? I don’t give a shite. Shove your cigarette butt up your ass for all I care, just don’t throw it on our ground.
Anyways, about “Revolutionary Road”, it may seem like I’m being a bit hard on it but it’s a decent movie. It’s funny at times and heartbreaking at others. It’s got a strong cast, a good director and a pretty simple yet solid story. In my opinion, not Oscar material but still worth checking out. I apologize for the above rant but (excuse the pun) the whole smoking issue really burns my ass. (8 out of 10)
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