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It is 1955, and Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) are a formerly happy, currently married couple existing in a dull life in the suburbs. When the two met several years ago, they were enamored with each other’s vitality and zest for life. But now they are the people they grew up despising and looking down upon; suburban drones trapped in roles and lives that they hate, buying into the American Dream despite the fact that it in no way appeals to them. In a last ditch plan to regain control of her own life, April devises a plan for the couple to move with their two young children to Paris, a place Frank has visited and said that he loves. After some – but not much – convincing, Frank is persuaded by his wife to leave his tedious position at Knox Business Machines and go through with the plan. Though their potential new life initially gives the couple a renewed interest in each other and the world around them, as monkey wrenches and potential flaws come to light the couple find it difficult to go through with the change they both so desperately need.

Between this film and American Beauty, director Sam Mendes clearly has a problem with the trappings of suburbia. But here he draws from well lauded source material; Revolutionary Road is based on the famous novel of the same name written in 1961 by Richard Yates. Relying on the strength of its acting (both leads clearly deserve Oscars, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn and David Harbour are all perfectly fit as the couple’s acquaintances and Michael Shannon gives a brief performance that is so good as to defy description) and a powerful and emotionally resonant story more than it does anything particularly cinematic, the movie is a triumph despite the absence of anything showy or even artistic in its “look” (consider it more like a filmed play than a film). The screenplay is also something of an anomaly; it doesn’t follow any sort of conventional arc, journey or archetype but is still engaging, interesting and unique even as it deals explicitly with the motions of mundane everyday life. There is no clear villain in the story; Frank and April segue back and forth, both doing things that are admirable and despicable. The characters represent two opposing viewpoints of a massive and morally based issue; neither one is completely right or wrong, because they simply can’t be. If anything, both of them are right.

Echoing the realism of its own setting and story, Revolutionary Road is not a film that lays out a problem and then attempts to solve it. The story doesn’t try to answer any questions; it just raises and discusses them. It’s not really a film for everyone - it’s not that people won’t “get it”, but more that the issues the couple are discussing and going through aren’t necessarily things that are important to a lot of people. Older generations might be dismissive of the film or even offended by it; the core ideas of the script attack the broad status quo as something to be maligned instead of embraced. People in their formative years will probably appreciate and relate to it a lot better; individuals in their late teens and 20s owe it to themselves to consider these questions before embarking on whatever life path it is that they choose. A searing and often depressing portrait of suburban discontent, Revolutionary Road is a story that won’t resonate with everyone, but for the people it does strike a chord with it will no doubt be considered a very special and important film.

- Jeff Latta