Revolutionary Road

Another Kate Winslet movie; another tragic love story; another two hours of gloom. Kate Winslet dominates in this genre, and rightfully so, as the role of a 1950’s depressed housewife suits her perfectly in Revolutionary Road. Although viewers may be turned off by this dark drama, working-class Americans will relate to the story’s premise in one way or another.
 

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet plays an unhappy married couple trapped within the box of their seemingly perfect suburban lives. The days of bold dreams and endless opportunities took a backseat to a corporate job, a kept home, and two children. After falling in love and achieving the “American Dream,” what follows is a series of arguments and much marital distress as the two constantly blame one another for the lackluster lives they lead. Resentment of their significant other ensues and self-pity for their own loss of potential takes the couple down a destructive and tragic path.
 

Both DiCaprio and Winslet deliver scenes with such conviction that it only adds to the movie’s relatability. In fact, Kate Winslet does too good of a job portraying an uninspired mother who can’t find joy even in the faces of her own children, so well so that she easily becomes the story’s antagonist—you just can’t find yourself rooting for her.
 

Unfortunately, the climax of this movie is in the last fifteen minutes. Just as the couple seems to accept their circumstances and almost manages to salvage their marriage, one decision ruins everything the two has created together. The scene that unfolds touches the heart and, subsequently, breaks it into a million different pieces.
 

Bottom Line: A heartbreak of a movie…just don’t compare it to Titantic.