Revolutionary Road (2008)

Opened December 26, 2008 (limited)

• Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes
• Genres: Drama, Adaptation
• MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexual content/nudity
• Cast: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn, Ryan Simpkins, Ty Simpkins
• Director: Sam Mendes
• Screenwriters: Justin Haythe (screenplay), Richard Yates (novel)
• Original Music: Thomas Newman
• Production Companies: Neal Street Productions, Evamere Entertainment, BBC Films
• Studios: DreamWorks
• Distributors: Paramount Vantage
• Awards: Golden Globes: Best Actress - Drama (Kate Winslet)
• Nominations: Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Actor - Drama (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Synopses:

A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.

Frank and April, a married couple in the 1950s, 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 routine job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy homemaker starving for fulfillment 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.

The official website for Revolutionary Road has trailers and clips. Click on the following links for more resources and information on the movie as well as reviews: Wikipedia, Internet movie database (imdb), Yahoo! Movies, Rotten Tomatoes, NY Times, Houston Chronicle, USA Today, Roger Ebert, Moviefone, Entertainment Weekly (preview), Entertainment Weekly (review), TV Guide, Amazon

Trivia:

• This is the first film collaboration between Kate Winslet and her husband Sam Mendes.
• Todd Field had planned to follow up "In the Bedroom" with this film, but he decided to make "Little Children" (also starring Kate Winslet and Ty Simpkins) instead.
• Child actors Ryan Simpkins and Ty Simpkins, who play Frank and April's children, a real-life siblings.
• First movie Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates have worked on together since "Titanic" (1997).
• The rights to adapt the book into a move were bought in 1967.
• Director Sam Mendes opted to watch the monitor from another room while directing the love scene between DiCaprio and Winslet.
• Shot in sequence.

Reel Thoughts entertainment rating: 4/5
Reel Thoughts award-worthy rating: 5/5