Revolutionary Road with Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on DVD June 2

Revolutionary Road starts off with despair and arguing as April (Kate Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (Leo DiCaprio) discover a normal life on Revolutionary Road in one of New York City's wealthy suburbs is not all it is cracked up to be. Revolutionary Road opened in limited release on December 26, 2008 and comes out on DVD on June 2, 2009.

Frank and April Wheeler are caught in a trap. They gave up their dreams to settle down, buy a house and have children in the 1950s. Frank is now working at the same firm where his father worked -- and where he swore he would never work. After an argument with April on his 30th birthday, he starts on affair with a a coworker. However, when he returns home, he discovers April is glowing. She welcomes him home with open arms, has a birthday cake with their two children singing happy birthday, and afterwards announces she wants them all to move to the one place Frank has always wanted to revisit -- Paris.

Frank seems to go along with the idea. The Wheelers begin to make plans, but as they put their house on Revolutionary Road up for sale, Frank resumes his affair. Frank and April start to tell their friends about their decision to move to France, but their neighbors are less than enthusiastic about the plan wanting to know what Frank intends to do while April supports him. The only person who seems to understand what the Wheelers mean when they talk about escaping the hopeless emptiness of their lives is the mentally disturbed son of local realtor Helen Givings (Kathy Bates).

While April thinks about ending her pregnancy so the Wheelers can make the Paris trip a reality, Frank toys with an offer of a promotion from his company. When April finds out he hasn't told his job he's leaving and that he is seriously considering the promotion, the arguments resume, but much worse. One by one April's dreams have come crashing down. Frank has found his place and made his peace with the life they have made on Revolutionary Road, but April can't seem to find her place. She ends up having sex with a neighbor who has feelings for her which seems to solidify the severing of her emotional bond with Frank. Just when you think things cannot spiral down any further, the plot takes a turn for the worse.

There is apparently a market for depressing, melancholy movies. I have to wonder about the people who plop down good money to wallow with film characters in their misery. Life can be depressing enough without choosing entertainment that is depressing and bleak. If you like films that wallow in anger, depression, melancholy, and hopelessness, Revolutionary Road is for you. The acting is good (especially Michael Shannon as the mentally disturbed, insightful neighbor); what Revolutionary Road lacks in in inspiration, it makes up for angst.

Revolutionary Road is 119 minutes long and is rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity. The DVD has some extras including deleted scenes, commentary and "The Making of Revolutionary Road."