Revolutionary Road Depicts the Human Tragedy of Loneliness

Revolutionary Road, set in 1955 Connecticut, depicts a marriage quietly imploding. Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler appear to be the perfect couple on the outside but they are systematically falling apart. Rundown by routine and white picket-fence suburbia, they cling to anything that can confirm their unwavering conviction that they are different than their neighbors, more "special" than their peers.

Four words came to mind and kept recurring while watching this film, and they just happen to be the title of another film, "A Slipping-Down Life". Though on the surface the two films are quite dissimilar, there is a likewise theme of advancing descent. However, it is the words themselves that seem to sum up Revolutionary Road, 'a slipping-down life'; a slippery slope that no one in the film seems willing to claw their way back up.

Masterfully directed by Kate Winslet's husband Sam Mendes (who brought his poetic vision to Alan Ball's incomparable "American Beauty" in 1999 and walked away with the Best Director Oscar) captures the realism of emotional entropy in an idyllic setting so artfully that he manages to make even the disturbing material sparkle with an undeniable element of beauty. No stranger to films in which characters are desperately trying to recapture the exuberance of youth while looking in all the wrong places, Sam admirably presents that which is not traditionally admirable.

Based on the debut novel by Richard Yates, this is not a movie for everyone. There are quite a few shocking and controversial moments and issues touched upon throughout the film, some more controversial than others, that may very well put some people off. It's not always a pretty film but I think it's an important film. The characters, if not always likable are, I believe, understandable-at least for the most part. Richard Yates once said, "If my work has a theme, I suspect it is a simple one: that most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy."

I would say that that quote pretty much sums up Revolutionary Road, but I would add that perhaps the truest tragedy here is what Frank and April seem to have forgotten (if they ever knew it to begin with): that happiness and fulfillment do not reside in a place, or with a certain person (or many), but comes from within, regardless of where one lives or works.

The one ray of light in the Stepford-like community comes from John (played by Michael Shannon), the mentally disturbed son of Frank and April's neighbor. He is the tactless, confrontational voice of reason and truth in a world drowning in false politeness. Sadly, it takes far more than one lonely light to illuminate a desert and he may just be far too late to intercept Frank and April's inexorable final descent into the "empty hopelessness". A phrase they themselves have coined to describe suburban life.

Kate Winslet has already walked away with a Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of April Wheeler which may well translate into an Oscar win for her. I believe that in a different year Revolutionary Road would have a much better shot at racking up the awards, but with all of the stellar films this year I fear it will be mostly overlooked, which is certainly a shame.

The one thing I really hope people take away from watching this film is not what Frank and April did, where they searched for their happiness, but what they did not do and where they did not search. I hope those roads not followed become glaringly obvious in their absence.