REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. Wow.

[Twilight]

Just finished it (the film - I now intend to read the book).

You all need to talk me off the ledge. It's a very depressing flick - on the surface it's about miserable people being miserable - but it's an absolute powerhouse.

I feel now just like I did after finishing reading THE ROAD. Unbelievably sad but yet somehow fulfilled in some way. Hard to explain. Sometimes you take comfort in the things you know to be true, even if they're incredibly tragic. I think I've met a thousand Frank and Aprils in my life (you'll recognize them too in your life, if you see the film).

Stunning, stunning film, with absolutely phenomenal performances (what else is new?) by Winslet (christ, what a Goddess) and DiCaprio.


Highly recommended. It's in limited release right now but goes wide in the US on the 23rd, I believe.


Kate deserves the Oscar for this (and hopefully she'll get it, given her success last night at the Globes).


But yeah, shoot me.





(Check out the - as usual - heartbreaking score by Thomas Newman. The man's a genius. Here's a piece from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsOpWO2BM68 )

 

[TGTheodore]

This made my 10 WORST Films of 2008 list, edging very closely to the lowest spot on it.

I see 200 movies a year, and have for over 30 years.

This one was so bad it was almost a parody.

Oh, my.

Remember when everyone thought it would be a great idea to team John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John together again after the success of GREASE? What we got was the abysmal TWO OF A KIND. (Don’t even remember it, do you?)

Well, someone thought it would be great to re-team the TITANTIC duo of DiCaprio and Winslet. What we get is a two-hour SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch, but no one's in on the joke.

It's played straight, and the cliche period art direction makes you want to laugh out loud. What's worse is the entire film mirrors the very first sequence in which (not a big spoiler) Winslet's wife/mother character appears in a play so bad that everyone in the cast and audience knows it ... but no one wants to talk about it.

This movie wants to be the epitome of late 1950's suburban angst. It ends up being insufferable, talky, and coming off like a bad table read of a horrible script. And the one overt reference to TITANIC comes at the worst possible moment in this Yak Fest of Death.

Winslet tries so hard to sound “American” that some of her line deliveries sound like someone reading a play they’ve never seen before. She's better than this. MUCH better than this. ALWAYS better than this.

Recast the leads with Will Farrell and Amy Poehler and you’d have a sly dark social comedy. Instead, you have a cast where no one gets it. Not even Kathy Bates. And she can play THIS stuff straight, so she truly deserves that Oscar of hers. Her dialogue ... whew!

I now know the meaning of Admiral Kirk’s dying words in Star Trek: Generations. “Oh, my ...” He was obviously thinking about REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.

I really like the actors in this cast, but I nearly applauded when this one was over. Because it was over.

Bleak is one thing ... deadly is another entirely.

Wow, indeed.

--Ted

P.S. This one's really been polarizing. I've seen a number of critics give it four stars and an equal number just kicking the crap out of it.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I haven't seen it, so I can't speak with authority. But from everything I've read, it sounds like yet another retread of that old Hollywood cliché, "life is horrible in the American suburbs." A theme that was already overdone and played out about three decades ago.

 

[Top41]

I loved the film, but I made a point to read the novel it was based on (by Richard Yates) before seeing it. All I can say is that I'd highly recommend reading the novel before seeing the film. I realize they should be able to stand separately, but I feel like there are so many nuances in the novel that simply can't carry over to the film, no matter how good the performances. There's so much going on here internally with these characters. I thought the novel was brilliant. I loved the movie, but I'm not sure how I would have felt about it had I not read the novel first. The script was very true to the book, to both the plot and even to the extent that a lot of the dialogue was the same.

I thought both Winslet and DiCaprio were wonderful. I've always loved Kate Winslet--I think she's a phenomenal actress and haven't ever seen a bad performance from her. She's brilliant in this movie, and absolutely deserves the Oscar. There was something I l just loved about her diction in the role; she really talked the way I imagined the character would talk, if that makes sense. DiCaprio isn't always my favorite, but I really did like him here--I thought he really inhabited the role.

Anyway, I loved it, but again...I'd highly recommend the book!

 

[JPRyan]

Top, You only saw it once. I had to watch it 7 times because of work. "Looks like I picked a bad week to go off my meds."

 

[Trippy]

I just finished the book, which I loved and I want to see the movie asap

I love both Winslet (from way back in Sense and Sensibility) and DiCaprio (from way back in What's Eating Gilbert Grape...Growing Pains doesn't count )

 

[Bad Bishop]

I haven't seen it, so I can't speak with authority. But from everything I've read, it sounds like yet another retread of that old Hollywood cliché, "life is horrible in the American suburbs." A theme that was already overdone and played out about three decades ago.

If it isn't the American suburbs then it's small town America, where people are either miserable or just plain weird. Painting a dismal picture of rural life seems to be S.O.P. for indie film directors who want to make a name for themselves.

I loathed 2005's Junebug, the film that earned Amy Adams an Oscar nomination. It's set in rural North Carolina. Naturally, the locals are all Southern stereotypes, with all that frightfully earnest hospitality and religious zeal. One character (a woman from Chicago played by Embeth Davidtz) barely handles the culture shock. She spends half the film with her mouth agape as she observes life in the South. You'd think she'd landed on another planet.

I did like Waitress (2007) starring Keri Russell as a small town waitress with an abusive husband. But then there's Snow Angels (2008), which is Hell's version of Waitress. Snow Angels is about a waitress and mother played by Kate Beckinsale. Her estranged husband is a loser and religious nutcase. There's a decided lack of any Waitress-like sweetness here; instead, Snow Angels is slathered with despair, tragedy, murder and suicide. I would not have rented Snow Angels if the deceptive packaging didn't sell it as a "coming of age" tale about a teenager and the woman (Beckinsale) who used to be his babysitter. Watching this film was a hateful experience. Kate Beckinsale is quite good in the film but I would not recommend it anyone, not even her fans.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

This made my 10 WORST Films of 2008 list, edging very closely to the lowest spot on it.

I see 200 movies a year, and have for over 30 years.

This one was so bad it was almost a parody.

Oh, my.

Remember when everyone thought it would be a great idea to team John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John together again after the success of GREASE? What we got was the abysmal TWO OF A KIND. (Don’t even remember it, do you?)

Well, someone thought it would be great to re-team the TITANTIC duo of DiCaprio and Winslet. What we get is a two-hour SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch, but no one's in on the joke.

It's played straight, and the cliche period art direction makes you want to laugh out loud. What's worse is the entire film mirrors the very first sequence in which (not a big spoiler) Winslet's wife/mother character appears in a play so bad that everyone in the cast and audience knows it ... but no one wants to talk about it.

This movie wants to be the epitome of late 1950's suburban angst. It ends up being insufferable, talky, and coming off like a bad table read of a horrible script. And the one overt reference to TITANIC comes at the worst possible moment in this Yak Fest of Death.

Winslet tries so hard to sound “American” that some of her line deliveries sound like someone reading a play they’ve never seen before. She's better than this. MUCH better than this. ALWAYS better than this.

Recast the leads with Will Farrell and Amy Poehler and you’d have a sly dark social comedy. Instead, you have a cast where no one gets it. Not even Kathy Bates. And she can play THIS stuff straight, so she truly deserves that Oscar of hers. Her dialogue ... whew!

I now know the meaning of Admiral Kirk’s dying words in Star Trek: Generations. “Oh, my ...” He was obviously thinking about REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.

I really like the actors in this cast, but I nearly applauded when this one was over. Because it was over.

Bleak is one thing ... deadly is another entirely.

Wow, indeed.

--Ted

P.S. This one's really been polarizing. I've seen a number of critics give it four stars and an equal number just kicking the crap out of it.

So, is it good? Bad? I can't get a read on your review there.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I can vouch for the polarizing thing. I spoke to my mom and she absolutely loathed it, as did a few others I've spoken to. But then a couple of my friends thought it was fantastic, albeit extraordinarily depressing.

 

[iguana_tonante]

You'd think she'd landed on another planet.

Now maybe if she can work out a reason, she can get home

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I haven't seen it, so I can't speak with authority. But from everything I've read, it sounds like yet another retread of that old Hollywood cliché, "life is horrible in the American suburbs." A theme that was already overdone and played out about three decades ago.

If it isn't the American suburbs then it's small town America, where people are either miserable or just plain weird. Painting a dismal picture of rural life seems to be S.O.P. for indie film directors who want to make a name for themselves.

Absolutely. I often feel like the people who make these films believe that any place outside of Manhattan or Southern California is some sort of grim hellish plane of existence. They refuse to believe that most people who live in the suburbs, or in small towns, or in the South or Midwest are perfectly happy and live perfectly fulfilling lives.

One of the worst offenders is American Beauty, where we're supposed to be cheering on a middle-aged suburban loser whose only goal in life is to commit statutory rape on a friend of his teenage daughter. That movie is so filled with "Hollywood Liberal" cliches its unintentionally hilarious.

And I say this as a liberal myself who lives in a diverse urban neighborhood.

 

[TGTheodore]

This made my 10 WORST Films of 2008 list, edging very closely to the lowest spot on it.

I see 200 movies a year, and have for over 30 years.

This one was so bad it was almost a parody.

So, is it good? Bad? I can't get a read on your review there.

--Ted

 

[Australis]

Am I getting a division along the sexes vibe here?

 

[TGTheodore]

Am I getting a division along the sexes vibe here?

Locutus' mom and I both hated it, so that's pretty even. genderwise.

--Ted

 

[Twilight]

Am I getting a division along the sexes vibe here?

Nah, I'm a guy, and I thought it was a pretty stunning film.

Oddly I do understand where Ted is coming from - I think it's one of those things that you're either really moved by or you hate (possibly because it's really quite bleak).

I don't consider myself particularly susceptible to exploitative cinema, tripe, or cliche ... it's just that I didn't see any of that in RR. It seemed like a mature version of American Beauty, sans the caricatures.

Instead I found myself really, really moved by it - maybe because of personal experiences - maybe because the film really rang true for me.

I also find myself disagreeing with those who think that the film is somehow an indictment of suburban American life in the 50s. I found that to be merely the backdrop - in fact I thought one of the whole points of the film was that, even if Frank and April had gone to Paris (you'll understand if you see it), nothing would have changed. They'd still be lost.


So yeah - it's a polarizing film ... as evidenced by both the reviews and this thread.

 

[TGTheodore]

Am I getting a division along the sexes vibe here?

Nah, I'm a guy, and I thought it was a pretty stunning film.

Oddly I do understand where Ted is coming from - I think it's one of those things that you're either really moved by or you hate (possibly because it's really quite bleak).

So yeah - it's a polarizing film ... as evidenced by both the reviews and this thread.

I've never agreed more with someone with whom I have an opposite opinion. I kind of LIKE that!

This is one of those films that walks that very thin line between masterful and horrible, so it's going to have that split reaction.

--Ted

 

[JacksonArcher]

Wow, I have been going back and forth on this film. Early on, I had great interest in seeing it but then I heard some pretty scathing reviews so I rethought my stance (that and it is among six or seven different films I still want to see). Now after reading this thread and seeing some of everyone's thoughts (I especially respect the opinions of Ted and Twilight) I am more unsure over whether I should give the film
a chance.

I guess I should just watch it and like what many people do, form my own opinion after watching it. I think this film more than any will at least have a 50/50 chance of me liking or not.

 

[Australis]

Am I getting a division along the sexes vibe here?

Nah, I'm a guy, and I thought it was a pretty stunning film.

I knew that, it's the av, threw me and I had a 'grey moment'.