Most UNDERRATED Movie of the Year: Revolutionary Road

Apparently some of us just did not like this movie. Well, I think that maybe some of us just did not get this movie. I won't lie, I like depressing films; Slumdog Millionaire really annoyed the hell out of me with its perfect happy little ending. I also like films that provide a commentary on American life (see Mendes' American Beauty), without making it super obvious or condescending. On these two points, Revolutionary Road delivers. And it doesn't hurt that your two leads are two of the best actors around right now.

Basically, the film is a story of what would've happened if poor Jack hadn't frozen to death after the Titanic sunk and everyone lived happily ever after...except the maybe the quiet married life maybe isn't so happy after all. The fact that the two of them, Leo and Kate, are both very attractive people, underscores the fact that everyone should think that their lives are very happy and fulfilling. What's not to like? They have a nice home, in a nice suburb, live comfortably with two kids, yada yada yada. The American dream, right? But the point is, being told what the American dream is by the mainstream: nuclear family, nice house, suburbs, white picket fences, is not really the American dream.

Overall I my interpretation of the film is that it is a critique on American values. We value having children, preferably a boy and a girl, getting a good job, though it may not be a job you especially enjoy, and settling down in the suburbs. But is this what we need? Trying to make a better life for your children and conforming to the standards of American family life doesn't always amount to your own happiness. Parents/grandparents always talk about the sacrifices they had to make, but those sacrifices don't necessarily have to be obvious, dramatic ones. Simply giving up your dreams, and settling for what society tells you is appropriate is sacrifice in itself. Kate and Leo's characters may be be pretty and perfect looking to the outsider, but in truth they are dead inside. Going through the motions, each makes their own attempt to feel more alive: Kate tries to get back to acting in a local play, which fails miserably, and Leo has an affair with a secretary. Both attempts leave them feeling worse off than before. The Wheelers' idea to escape to Paris is an unrealistic one, but can you blame them for wanting to try and live their life how they had always envisioned it? Most of their acquaintances find their idea preposterous, though they scoff at it in a meager attempt at hiding their own dissatisfactions.

It is a difficult concept for a movie. But I think this film had the right director and actors, Leo and Kate are both fantastic, to make it in to one of the year's best films. I give it 4 1/2 Meryls.


Oh and hilarious, yet sad at the same time: in one last attempt at feeling anything even remotely significant, Winslet gets down and dirty Titanic style with their neighbor (and good friend) in his car. How awkward do you think it was for her husband, Sam Mendes, to film that scene? And this movie getting snubbed by the Oscars for best picture????? RIDICULOUS.