REVOLUTIONARY ROAD REVIEW

WARNING: Do not see if this film if you follow the naive belief that marriage is bliss. In Revolutionary Road, Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio re-team to play The Wheelers, an unhappy suburban couple feeling suppressed. They’re solution, move their family to Paris, have Mrs. Wheeler find a job while Mr. Wheeler rediscovers himself. But due to 1950’s gender roles, their idea to escape is scoffed at by everyone, while an unplanned pregnancy and promotion add further complications. American Beauty’s (also Winslet’s husband) Oscar Mendes directs the novel adaptation along with Kathy Bates and Michael Shannon in supporting roles.



Seriously, if you ever want to get married, you may want to avoid this film. I don’t, so I found it all the more reassuring. The Wheelers seriously go after each other, work to rebuild their relationship, and then go after each other again. To anyone who lived with soon-to-be divorced parents, this may seem familiar. At times, especially in the beginning, the film seemed too-smarty and plain. Especially Kathy Bates character who annoyed me with just her dialogue. The characters aren't well defined, and it seemed like DiCarpio and Winslet were doing their best to bring them to life. That is until things start picking up. Both actors, Dicaprio especially, melt into their roles at agitated suburbians. You truly feel sorry for their neurosis. Even though things are not great, they’re not nearly as bad as they’re making it seem. They truly take it too far and you get the impression they wouldn’t be happy anywhere they go. An over dramatized episode of Desperate Housewives if there ever was one, but it does speak to the lengths some go to rid themselves of desperation and discontent. As great as DiCaprio and Winslet are, Michael Shannon is awesome, and even though he only occupies two scenes, he makes his presence known.



CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:
Established gender roles do seem outdated. Just last year Hilary Clinton ran for President and almost shattered the glass ceiling but back in the days the thought of such notions drew gasps. Even though the plan isn’t that far fetched, others in the film looked at them as if they were relenting to a Bohemian lifestyle. Paris? Why? Well, why not? The Wheelers though, were truly out of their time. Society has changed from admiring the ideals of building a family in the suburbs to admiring those who have the balls to do something truly spectacular with their life. There is a bit of a double standard though. Here, audiences are meant to root for the Wheeler’s plan to forgo their wealth to live in Paris. I remember Crooklyn, where the families' father is cast as a villain for pursuing his dream to become a musician. When family is concerned, is there a middle ground between aspirations and responsibility?

BLACK PERSPECTIVE:
While researching, I came along a startling statistic. According to www.bellaonline.com, African-American couples have a higher divorce rate than any other ethnic group in American, currently at 12% per year. This is troubling, since it also reports only 42% of African-Americans are married. A 2007 article in the Midtown Journal states only 52% of black women will be married by the age of 30 and that there are 23 divorces out of 1,000 black marriages per year as opposed to 19 out of every 1,000 white couples. The problems with divorces and unhappy marriages are not solely a black issue, but it hits harder than most due to the black’s communities difficulty with maintaining families. Blacks are more likely to get divorced than any other race, less likely to get married than any other race, and have more single-parented families than any other race. It is possible to grow up successfully from a single parented home but has proven to be more difficult. “Children from single-parent homes suffer a loss of economic, parental, and community resources. These losses limit their abilities to achieve in school, in the workplace, and to avoid early childbearing. Children that grow up with only one biological parent are less likely to learn and do well at school, become economically independent and successful adults.” (www.integer.com)

Resources
Bella Online
Intiger
Middletown Journal

Here is a youtube video dedicated to the celebration of black marriages.



Also Black Marriage Day is March 22nd, 2009. You can visit www.BlackMarraiageDay.com for more information.

EXTRAS:
Revolutionary Road reunited Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio from Titanic, the highest grossing film all-time, which premiered 11 years earlier in 1997. Kate Winslet won Best Actress at the 2009 Golden Globes. The Picture, Dicaprio, and Mendes were also nominated, however all were shut out for their roles in this film at the Oscars. Michiael Shannon (you may remember as Eminem's mother's boyfriend in 8-Mile) received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film also received nominations for Costume Design and Art Design.

RATING:
= 3 Stars

 = 0 Black Fists