Based on Richard Yates’ 1961 novel, a searing criticism of American suburbia, “Revolutionary Road” follows a young, idealistic couple as they quickly descend into dissatisfaction and frustration with their shallow, settled lifestyle. Frank was one of those young men who everyone would say had “potential,” but potential to do what? Not even he can say. Now he commutes to an office in New York City, desperate not to become the soulless salesman his father was but too scared to follow his fuzzily defined dreams. April has done some acting, but all she truly desires is some independence. One day, she gets the idea to pack up and move to Paris; she can get a job as a translator for the government and support the family while Frank finds his calling. Frank hesitantly agrees, but things refuse to resolve themselves so neatly.
Director Sam Mendes was also responsible for “American Beauty,” another harsh depiction of the emptiness of suburban life. Speaking as someone who has lived in suburbia his whole life and is so far perfectly satisfied, thank you very much, it might be time for Mendes to find a new topic. The far more intriguing angle of this film comes from the gender conflict between April and Frank — we have sympathy for both characters, but who is really keeping whom trapped here? DiCaprio delivers the most emotionally raw performance of his career, and Winslet’s truly Oscar-worthy performance came here, not in “The Reader.” Michael Shannon steals his scenes as John Givings, the supposedly unstable son of the Wheelers’ neighbors, who revels in confronting people with their own hypocrisies. A beautiful score by Thomas Newman (“WALL-E,” “American Beauty”) and gorgeous cinematography by Roger Deakins rounds out this extremely well made, brutally in-your-face drama.