Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

Movie reviewer time. Yesterday I went to see Revolutionary Road & I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I didn't really know what it was about but it looked interesting from the previews & I mean who wasn't excited that Leo & Kate were together again? Not to mention the unsinkable Molly Brown, Kathy Bates.

With that said, obviously the acting was terrific because the cast was really phenomenal. Leo is like a fine wine, he just gets better with age. The story is about a young couple who expected a lot out of themselves, but they ended up just like everyone else of that time: she was a housewife & he was a businessman. They were forced to conform to society & were not happy about it. They didn't fit the mold. He looked at his father & didn't want to become that but it's exactly what he became. The only time they were happy is when they were going to escape. They lived on Revolutionary Road & they were revolutionaries. They wanted to move & she would support him, which everyone thought was crazy. As it turned out, the only person who saw past their "perfect" exterior was insane & visiting from a mental institution. Society drove them crazy & they constantly had to put on a show.

The movie was very well-done. I'm not an expert on cinematography or any of those production categories but this was really good stuff. The costumes & set designs were also great. It reminded me of Leave it to Beaver meets The Stepford Wives meets something new. The costumes helped tell the story of what was happening. Everyone was dressed the same going to work & it just reinforced the idea of conformity. The concept of the movie also was really interesting. Watching it I thought, this must be what it was like in the Cleaver household behind closed doors.

The movie did a great job in making you come away with a feeling of resentment. It made me so glad I didn't live in that time because as a woman, I couldn't stand having to be that perfect housewife all the time & nothing more then that. She was someone who wanted more then that & she was ultimately punished for it. Despite a woman in my theater continuously stating throughout that she thought it was a very weird movie, overall I enjoyed it. It was a beautifully artistic movie & I think this quote from it sums it up nicely. "If being crazy means living life so it matters then I don't care if we're completely insane."

Grade: A