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Revolutionary Road - Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Sam Mendes

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) have always seen themselves as special, different, ready and willing to live their lives based on higher ideals. So, as soon as they move into their new house on Revolutionary Road, they proudly declare their independence from the suburban inertia that surrounds them and determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era. Yet for all their charm, beauty and irreverence, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn't expect: a good man with a meaningless job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy home-maker starving for fulfilment and passion; an American family with lost dreams, like any other. Driven to change their fates, April hatches an audacious plan to start all over again, to leave the comforts of Connecticut behind for the great unknown of Paris. But when the plan is put in motion, each spouse is pushed to extremes - one to escape whatever the cost, the other to save all that they have, no matter the compromises.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Revolutionary Road theatrical one sheet image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film drama Connecticut family children suburb life trapped Fifties 1950s argue affair suburban

Persons of interest

Leonardo DiCaprio .... Frank Wheeler
Kate Winslet .... April Wheeler
Kathy Bates .... Mrs Helen Givings
Michael Shannon .... John Givings
Kathryn Hahn .... Milly Campbell
Zoe Kazan .... Maureen Grube
Ryan Simpkins .... Jennifer Wheeler
David Harbour .... Shep Campbell
Ty Simpkins .... Michael Wheeler
Adam Mucci .... Jason Maple
Richard Yates .... Author
Justin Haythe .... Screenwriter
Sam Mendes .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Revolutionary road official movie site
Revolutionary road film production notes
Revolutionary road QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Studios and distributors:

BBC Films * Paramount Pictures

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Holy crap. When I walked out of the screening of Revolutionary Road I saw a lot of shell-schocked film critics. I didn't then and can't now tell if it was because this is a really good movie or because there's so much shouting and emoting and uncertainty. Talk about explosions. Talk about sniping. Talk about duck and cover. Talk about war in the trenches.

The worst part about the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is that they plan to go on a trans-Atlantic boat trip. DON'T GET ON THE BOAT! *Shudders* The best part about the casting is that Kate looks like (an undernourished) World War II pin-up girl: long, flowing hair, great bone structure, creamy skin. Leo is, of course, a little too pretty to be taken seriously as a man, even with hair on his chest (see Blood diamond for Leo as a manly man). They do work together as a couple, but.

The worst part about Justin Haythe's script is that it sounds like it should be performed in the theatre rather than on the big screen. Theatrical dialogue has a heightened quality to it - the choice of words, of word placement, of sentence length - that distinguishes it from real life conversation (or argument) and that undercuts the movie because you keep remembering that it isn't real; it prevents you from willingly suspending your disbelief.

Still, those are small complaints given the battering your emotions get from watching Leo and Kate brutalise both each other and themselves. This is a hard-core kitchen sink drama about two kids who bought into the American Dream™ and can't sell their shares because the bottom fell out of the market. You won't enjoy Revolutionary Road (unless you're a masochist (or a sadist)) but you might like it.

The drama movie Revolutionary Road is directed by Sam Mendes and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates.