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Revolutionary Road
Friday, January 16, 2009 @ 4:12 PM

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. - John F. Kennedy

So anyway, I just saw Revolutionary Road a few hours ago; I'm trying to find the right words to describe it.

Like one critic said, nothing about the film takes you by genuine surprise since the plot is basically a flat lifeline. The narrative tends to go ceaselessly downhill that, while watching, it's almost impossible to believe it could develop otherwise. Although I don't really have a problem with a flat narrative unless it's told beautifully, for some people who prefer changing stories and round characters (and happy endings, at that), the film may be unappealing.

At the same time, though, Revolutionary Road truly resides in this certain level of genius, especially with the way that Sam Mendes admirably crafted the film to really emphasize certain emotions of, for example, hopelessness and emptiness. Paired with a beautiful narrative, the direction of the film makes the audience feel like they're going downhill with the Wheelers too, the way that Revolutionary Road is able to make your heart feels its heaviest sense of grief, loss, and mistake because it's really a film that doesn't play safe.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who played Frank and April Wheeler, were just amazing in the film, and you could really see how those two were working together as actors. They weren't overpowering one another, in the sense that neither one was outshining the other, and they were just these two great energies in the film that Revolutionary Road would have failed without them. The personalities of Frank and April Wheeler came off the screen equally strong: Their personal issues were clearly felt and understood, and so as a viewer, you don't leave the cinema immediately leaning towards the opinion of someone else—like who was right and who was wrong—but instead, your thoughts are really challenged and provoked.

Additionally, after watching the film, it makes you want to read the novel it was based on, written by the late Richard Yates—a plus that some film adaptations can't completely do.