I found this film to be heavy-handed with its moralizing at times, which is a similarity this movie shares with movies such as The Hours. I enjoy the general message of both movies, and felt that both movies were very solid, but they were sometimes bogged down by moralizing conversations. That being said, I love to see significant conversations happen in films, because so many films lack them completely. The term that is often tossed around with films such as these is “existentialist” because they feature people debating their existence and the lives they’ve chosen, and I don’t think it’s unfair to use that terms discussing movies such as this.

This film was also similar to American Beauty, because it relates to the idea of the American dream and living in the suburbs, except it is set in the 50s instead of the modern day, which makes it lose some of the kick that American Beauty had. Another difference is that American Beauty involved the couple fighting against one another and leading their separate lives without a care, whereas Revolutionary Road  is about the couple trying to change their life together, despite fighting so much against one another.

I found the characters to be a little unrealistic at times, just like their dialogue. I’ve had conversations that featured some similar dialogue in real life, but how it flows in the movie is out-of-touch with how people actually speak. Of course, films are not meant to be reality, and as Ayn Rand says, she writes characters to be the ideal of what people should be like, which is a stance I feel most writers take with their characters. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet both performed well in the lead roles, and the supporting cast was also solid most of the time. I don’t know whether DiCaprio’s performance is Oscar worthy, as it has been suggested to be.  In the end, neither of them got nominated for these roles, which is for the best. I’ve seen both of these actors perform better in other roles they have had. The chemistry between the two of them in this movie is strong though, and it actually feels like they are a couple when you watch them together.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. The pace of the movie seemed to lag behind at times, but overall it presented the story and characters in an easy-to-follow manner. It is a shame some of the dialogue felt unrealistic, because the movie had such great potential. I would recommend seeing the movie, but American Beauty accomplishes the same goal, without the baggage of this movie, making it a much better film overall.