One of the Great But Ignored of last year (along with Che), Revolutionary Road was released on home video Tuesday to little fanfare. The movie is a stark contrast to the empty, disposable summer junk food flooding screens this summer. Hopefully that means more people will finally see what I consider one of the best acted, scripted, and directed films of last year.
A friend recently rewatched American Beauty and commented about the "theatricality" of the movie, in my mind criticizing a degree of pretension and surreality to the movie. I know others who similarly dismissed Road as high melodrama, and I don't think any of these people have had much of a life.
Most are bloggers in their early twenties, and, god save us all, some in their late teens. I'm not saying movies should only be reviewed by those who Millenials would deem "old" (over 30 or 35), but you shouldn't trust a review of Revolutionary Road written by someone whose most traumatic life event to this point is not getting a car for their sixteenth birthday. The fear that has prevented so many of the bloggerati from connecting with this picture or letting it sink in is a that it could somehow relate to their now or future lives.
Either they're in a committed relationship that has had major ups and downs or they want to convince themselves they never will be. No one wants their own dirty laundry aired, let alone a movie make them wonder just how bad they might have it.
Speaking from the perspective of a kid who grew up in the 80's, when we were all being fed Reaganist optimism, Revolutionary Road brings to life many of my generation's worst nightmares. All of us spoiled little brats were being spoon-fed that we'd all grow up to be Maverick from Top Gun or Ariel from The Little Mermaid, that everyone would love us and everything would work out.
Other hate-spewers have come at Road from the tired "oh, but the book is so much better" track. The book is always better, even if it wasn't. This is an endless, pointless argument. It takes a great deal of self-training to not let one's own personal interpretation of a book influence how effective they think a movie is. I pity my friends who rush to grab a book that they haven't read yet in the months before seeing a movie. They might as well wait a couple years to watch the movie! Write a book to movie comparison as a term paper, but leave me out of the discussion.
Upon rewatching the movie and looking at the extras, a couple things came to mind that didn't initially, specifically regarding Zoe Kazan. Seeing her reminded me of another period film in which she gives a strong supporting performance (Me and Orson Welles, rumored for release this fall). Also, a quick soundbite she shared during the Making-of piece revealed a very thoughtful and perceptive young actress. She's the granddaughter of Elia Kazan and daughter of Robin Swicord, who wrote Benjamin Button. Michael Shannon deserves the "holy shit, who is that guy" award, but Kazan is the under the radar up-and-comer, mark my words. No one paid attention to Dylan Baker or Kathy Bates during awards season, but they deserve some kudos as well. Kate and Leo are magnificent as everyone's already said.
Revolutionary Road is a classic film about married life that succeeds because it is not shackled to page-by-page adaptive fidelity as much as the universality of the themes present in the original work. Watching the Deleted Scenes [HD 25:17] reveals just how honest Mendes was with himself in making decisions in the editing room. Without those trims, there would be more of "the book" in there, but it would have been to the detriment of the film being the lean and brutal masterpiece it is now. The scenes feature worthwhile Optional Commentary with Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe. It nicely compliments the Feature Commentary with the same participants.
Deakins-lensed movies should always look this good on Blu-ray. The transfer is crisp and sharp...it's absolutely perfect. You see every imperfection in characters' faces and individual stray strands of hair. Rich contrast and color we should all expect on every hi-def release. Lives of Quiet Discomfort: The Making of Revolutionary Road [HD 29:03] isn't long enough to satisfy me, but it's not EPK fluff by any stretch. There are some good nuggets here and there, from how quickly production ramped to how they managed some tricky location shoots. DiCaprio, Winslet, and others also make coherent, interesting observations on their characters and the story, which is not the norm on other similar featurettes out there.
The movie itself and DVD/Blu-ray are highly recommended for rental or purchase. I'll be covering other new releases soon in the newly-condensed "Digital Roundup," which will be complimented by standalone reviews as I get them done.