A blog about cities, buildings, and the people who make them work.

In his article, “A Better Life”, David Denby writes, “It has become clearer than ever that the movie year is divided into two parts. There’s the first nine months, which are filled, it seems, with big-audience digital spectacles about men who fly, animated movies about indignant handheld devices and chatty rodents, and all-male comedies about virgins lost in a condom factory. And then there’s the Oscar-focused final three months of the year, which are devoted to movies about failure, abjection, death, and the Holocaust, most of them starring Kate Winslet or Cate Blanchett. “Revolutionary Road,” from the celebrated Richard Yates novel of 1961, is one of the latter.”

Mr. Denby is right about this one. I shouldn’t write about “Revolutionary Road” (2008), the Sam Mendes- directed film based on the Richard Yates novel of the same name. I shouldn’t write about it because “Revoutionary Road” is one utterly depressing movie, and I’m not sure what’s more depressing, knowing that this film will not affect some people or knowing that what happens here is my worst nightmare. The film works only because of the emotion stemming from its gripping story; it does not work because of the acting. I mean, let’s face it, who hasn’t wanted to quit their boring, fordist job and spartan life in the suburbs and move to Paris in hopes of discovering a lost talent or hidden passion. Does that sound like a bad life to you? I didn’t think so. Is it a risk? Of course. Instead this movie is a detailed autopsy of a cultural ideology gone sour, a marriage on the rocks, and the realization of a dying American Dream.

The acting wasn’t really bad, but it certainly lacks. In my opinion many scenes lose their intensity due to acting that seems too polished and rehearsed for something that is supposed to be raw and unrehearsed. This is just how I feel; some people seemed to think the acting was right-on. Other than the sub-par acting (excluding Michael Shannon’s amazing role as John Givings), my main concern with the film comes from what Marty Mapes notes when he says “I’m never sure if he’s [Sam Mendes] completely serious or if he expects his audience to be smarter than his characters…The problem is that I can’t tell whether he’s speaking earnestly through the characters or observing them from a more adult and grounded distance.” One thing I do know is that watching Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler (DiCaprio and Winslet) go at each other (sometimes controlled sometimes out of control) may be, as Denby says, “cathartic for some, but it shouldn’t be confused with movie art.” The most misunderstood part of this film is that pain and art are the same thing.

One thing Revolutionary Road has going for it is its ability to ignite change. The story of the Wheelers is sharp and nonstop, working toward a gruesomely unhappy ending, and unlike recent hits like Slumdog Millionaire with its too much Hollywood maybe Bollywood, fairy-tale ending, Revolutionary Road make you feel the need to change. Blame this on its depressing ending if you’d like, but that’s real life. What I know about life is tough and relentless. It does not end with a song and a dance. It does not end with a bag of money in your hand.

The overwhelming consensus I’ve found among critics is that [Revolutionary Road] is “too good a novel to make a great film” and this is where the great debate begins. I’ve never read the Yates novel, but the subject of fidelity and remediation in the novel/film world is too much for this essay. Every movie faces challenges in being faithful to its source – movies adapted from a stricter canon of literature are even more prone to criticism. Take Lolita, for example. The claims that Lolita the novel could “never be made into a film” were blasted day and night. Kubrick was doubted and Nabokov was questioned, but Lolita (novel and film) despite their differences are both wonderful. Basically, I can understand the concern of remediation and fidelity from novel to film, but I don’t want to hear it used as your reason against either one.

Don’t ask me where I stand on this movie because I’m not sure. Did I like the movie? of course not! but are you supposed to like a movie like Revolutionary Road?