HOLLYWOOD HUES
Excellent social drama

Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road is an absolute must for connoisseurs
of good cinema, writes Ervell E. Menezes

CAN people break away from the ordinary without breaking apart? This is the question posed to a couple, who are in their thirties, in Revolutionary Road. Seven years into their marriage and knowing they can do better April (Kate Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DeCaprio) find themselves drifting into that suburbia mould. Can they change their status?

The period is the 1950s when sleek Buicks and Cadillacs glided down the streets`A0of New York`A0and tunes like "Crying in the Chapel" and "Sway With Me" rent the air. Frank is not happy`A0with his job`A0and April is getting bored. Why not move to Paris, the happening place, they think and reveal these new`A0plans to their neighbours.

Shep (David Harbour) and Milly (Katherine Hahn) Campbell are shocked but try to disguise their feelings. Mrs Givings (Kathy Bates), a local busybody, isn’t too pleased either, nor are`A0his office colleagues. To add to their woes, April finds out she is pregnant.`A0 Having two`A0children, she is reluctant to go through with the pregnancy. Normally highly strung, April gets even more`A0hyper and the "I love you, I hate you" drama hits the roof, putting the generally cool Frank in a quandary.

As in American Beauty, director Sam Mendes is in his element dealing with human relationships and he is abetted by an imaginative screenplay by Justin Haythe. The two-faced social scene is graphically put`A0to sword and Mrs Givings’`A0son John (Michael Shanon), a psychiatric patient, brings out the crux of the couple’s problems`A0with some straight talk. Sparks fly in a scene reminiscent of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? much to the shame`A0of all concerned.

The psychological overtones are beautifully handled and the plight of the Wheelers is clearly palpable. And then, quite unexpectedly, tragedy strikes and the mood plummets. Shot essentially indoors Roger Deakins camerawork is caressing from the opening shot of`A0the New York skyline by night and that old favourite tune "Mother the Queen of My Heart." The title.`A0 Revolutionary Road is the suburban area in which the Wheelers live and the symbolism is obvious.

Kate Winslet (Mrs Sam Mendes in real life) and Leonardo`A0DiCaprio are both brilliant and it is hard to single out any one of them. They have gladly matured from the rash young lovers of Titanic. Kathy Bates is fast getting annoyingly typecast as the nosey, two-timing`A0neighbour but Michael Shanon steals the show in a fetching cameo. Zoe Kazan also impresses as the simple office girl who learns fast.

An excellent social drama getting through to`A0the heart of suburbia, warts and all and Kate Winslet is even better in this role than her Oscar-winning performance in The Reader. An absolute must for connoisseurs of good cinema.

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