| Revolutionary Road | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sam Mendes |
| Screenplay by | Justin Haythe |
| Based on | Revolutionary Road byRichard Yates |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
| Edited by | Tariq Anwar |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million[2] |
| Box office | $79.5 million[3] |
Revolutionary Road is a 2008romantic drama film directed bySam Mendes and written byJustin Haythe, based on the1961 novel of the same name byRichard Yates. It starsLeonardo DiCaprio andKate Winslet as Frank and April Wheeler, withMichael Shannon,Kathryn Hahn,David Harbour, andKathy Bates in supporting roles. Set from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, the film portrays the Wheelers' struggle to cope with their personal problems and the ensuing breakdown in their marriage.Revolutionary Road is the second onscreen collaboration for DiCaprio, Winslet, and Bates, all of whom previously co-starred in 1997'sTitanic. The film soundtrack was composed byThomas Newman, his fourth collaboration with Mendes.
Development of the film adaptation began in 1961. However, a lack of commercial prospects and disagreements with the screenplay caused the project to be in limbo until the 2000s.BBC Films eventually purchased the film rights to the novel and Haythe rewrote the screenplay. Winslet read the script and persuaded her then-husband Mendes to direct, and DiCaprio to play the role of Frank.
Revolutionary Road was theatrically released in the United States on December 26, 2008, byParamount Pictures. The film grossed over $79.5 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised the performances of Winslet, DiCaprio, and Shannon, as well as its faithfulness to the novel. At the81st Academy Awards, the film earned three nominations:Best Supporting Actor for Shannon,Best Art Direction, andBest Costume Design. It also received four nominations at the62nd British Academy Film Awards and four nominations, includingBest Motion Picture – Drama, at the66th Golden Globe Awards, with Winslet winningBest Actress.
In 1948,longshoreman Frank Wheeler meets April at a party. He is hoping to be acashier and she wants to be an actress. Frank later secures a sales position with Knox Machines, and he and April marry. The Wheelers move to 115 Revolutionary Road in suburban Connecticut when April becomes pregnant.
The couple become friends with theirrealtor Helen Givings, her husband Howard, and neighbors Milly Campbell and her husband Shep. To their associates, the Wheelers are the perfect couple, but their relationship is troubled. April is not successful at acting, while Frank hates his tedious job. On his 30th birthday, Frank invites a secretary at work, Maureen Grube, out for a drink, and they afterwards have sex. Meanwhile, Helen asks April if she and Frank will meet her son John, who had been in an insane asylum, and thinks the younger couple may be able to help her son with his condition. April accepts.
Wanting to escape their suburban existence and a chance to support the family so Frank can find his passion, April suggests starting a new life in Paris, France. Frank initially balks, but becomes convinced. Over the next several weeks, the Wheelers tell their acquaintances about their plans, but only John seems to understand their desire to leave the U.S. As the couple prepare to move, Frank is offered a promotion, and April becomes pregnant again. When Frank discovers she is contemplating having anabortion, the couple have an argument. April claims they had their second child only to prove the first was not a "mistake". The next day, Frank takes the promotion and tries to accept his uneventful life. At the end of an evening at a jazz bar with the Campbells, Shep and April end up alone together. She confides her depression over the canceled Paris plans and her life in general, and the two end up having sex in the car. Shep professes his long-held love for April, but she rejects his interest.
The following day, Frank confesses to his affair, hoping to reconcile with April. To his surprise, April apathetically says it does not matter, as she no longer loves him, which he does not believe. When the Givings come for dinner, Frank announces plans have changed because April is pregnant. John lambasts Frank for crushing April's hope, as well as him accepting his circumstances. Angered, Frank nearly attacks John, and the Givings leave. Afterwards, Frank and April have an argument, and April leaves the house to think.
Frank spends the night in a drunken stupor. The next morning, he is shocked to find April in the kitchen, calmly making breakfast as if nothing had happened. Frank, unsure how to react, eats with her, then leaves for work. April goes to the bathroom, where she performs avacuum aspiration abortion on herself. Afterwards, she starts to bleed and calls an ambulance. Frank arrives at the hospital, distraught, and is comforted by Shep. April dies in the hospital from blood loss. A guilt-ridden Frank moves to the city to sell computers and spend his spare time with his children.
A new couple, the Braces, buys the Wheeler's old home. While Milly and Shep have dinner with the Braces, Milly tells them about Frank and April. Shep walks out, crying; he asks Milly to never mention the Wheelers again. Years later, Helen tells her husband that the Braces seem to be the best-suited couple for the Wheelers' old house. When Helen starts talking about why she disliked Frank and April, her husband turns off hishearing aid.
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In 1961, following the publication of Richard Yates' novel, directorJohn Frankenheimer considered making the film, but opted to makeThe Manchurian Candidate instead.[4]Samuel Goldwyn Jr. expressed an interest in the film adaptation, but others in his studio told him that it lacked commercial prospects.[5] Then in 1965, producerAlbert S. Ruddy bought the rights but disliked the ending to the novel, and wanted to obscure April's death with "tricky camerawork".[5] He became involved in adaptingThe Godfather and, five years later, while a writer-in-residence atWichita State University, Yates offered to adapt his work for the screen. Ruddy was occupied by other projects at the time and demurred, eventually selling the rights to actorPatrick O'Neal. The actor praised the book and spent the rest of his life trying to finish a workable screenplay.[5] Yates read O'Neal's treatment of his novel and found it "godawful", but O'Neal refused the writer's repeated offers to buy back the rights to the novel. Yates died in 1992, O'Neal two years later.[4]
The project remained in limbo until 2001 when actorTodd Field expressed interest in adapting it for the screen. However, when told by the O'Neal estate he would be required to shoot O'Neal's script as written, Field changed his mind and went on to directLittle Children instead.[6] ProducerDavid Thompson eventually purchased the rights for BBC Films.[7] In March 2007, BBC Films established a partnership withDreamWorks, and the rights to the film's distribution were transferred to DreamWorks' owner,Paramount Pictures. On February 14, 2008, Paramount's other division,Paramount Vantage, announced that it was "taking over distribution duties onRevolutionary Road",[8] but the distribution rights reverted toParamount Pictures when Paramount folded the production and moved the distribution and marketing operations of Paramount Vantage into the main studio. The BBC hired Justin Haythe to write the screenplay because, according to the screenwriter, he was "hugely affordable".[5]
Kate Winslet received the screenplay from her agent, and then read the novel. She was impressed and even met with O'Neal's widow, Cynthia O'Neal, and discussed the film adaptation.[9] Winslet sent the script to producerScott Rudin, who suggested that her then-husband Sam Mendes would be perfect as director.[5] Winslet gave Mendes Yates' novel and said, "I really want to play this part."[10] He read Haythe's script and then the book in quick succession. Haythe's first draft was very faithful to the novel, using large parts of Yates' own language, but Mendes told him to find ways to externalize what Frank and April do not say to each other.[5]
Winslet sent the script to friend Leonardo DiCaprio, and persuaded him to take the part of Frank.[5] DiCaprio was intrigued by the 1950s era and complexities of marriage; "The dynamic between Frank and April is so powerful and realistic, you feel like you're a fly on the wall watching an intimate relationship disintegrate," he said.[11] DiCaprio said that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly", and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment".[12] On April 24, 2007, it was announced that Kathy Bates had joined the cast, along with David Harbour, Michael Shannon and Zoe Kazan.[13] Kazan said she fought hard for the role of Maureen Grube, despite objections from casting directorDebra Zane who thought she was too young.[14]
To prepare for the role, Winslet readThe Feminine Mystique byBetty Friedan.[15] She said, "The hardest thing about playing April, honestly, was making a very specific choice to not have her being as mannered as she is in the book. In the book, she's very, very highly strung and sometimes hysterical. She feels like a string that's literally going to snap at any moment."[16] DiCaprio prepared for the role by watching several documentaries about the 1950s and the origin ofsuburbs. He and Winslet have been reluctant sinceTitanic to co-star in projects that show them in a romantic relationship.[12] DiCaprio said they "just knew it would be a fundamental mistake to try to repeat any of those themes".[17]
In mid-2007, the cast rehearsed for three and a half weeks before principal photography and shot mostly in sequence and on location in Darien, Connecticut.[18] Mendes wanted to create aclaustrophobic dynamic on set, so he filmed the Wheeler home interiors in a real house. The property, including the neighbor's house, were very small but featured 1950s-style architecture.[11] The homeowners gave permission for DreamWorks to dismantle and remodel the interior and exterior.[19] Around 45 tradespeople were involved with the transformation, including carpenters, interior designers and landscapers.[19] Production designerKristi Zea and her team had five weeks to renovate the homes. "We wanted to keep the sense of isolation that was described in the book", Zea said.[19]Debra Schutt served as a set decorator, and said, "We ruled out anything with bright colors and anything that hit you over the head with the period. The look is really quite plain".[20]
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CinematographerRoger Deakins, who previously worked on Mendes'Jarhead, shot with a combination ofjib andhandheld camera equipment. Deakins analyzed the use of everylight fixture in the house; Schutt recalls "he's quite specific about what he wants. For instance, for the night scene by the side of the road, he wanted streetlights that would give a rectangular, tapered light, and for an argument in the Wheelers' front room, he wanted a ceiling fixture that would send light down and out in a fan shape with a hard edge".[20] Periodstreetlights and automobiles were also fitted with specific light bulbs by the art department.[21] Deakins found it difficult at times working in a small, shaded house with bulky camera equipment. Nevertheless, Winslet was impressed with his ability to "bounce light all over" usingArri CompactHMI lamps.[11][21] To gradually illustrate the home's neglect and Wheelers' collapsing marriage, the crew removedprops in the house and Deakins transitioned to handheld cameras, respectively.[19][22] Mendes said, "I wanted a real rawness in Leo and Kate's performances in the last half-hour of the movie, and when we reached that point, I told Roger I didn't want to make any decisions [about shots]; I wanted it to be handheld, and I wanted to let the actors be explosive and unpredictable".[22]
Recalling the on-set atmosphere, Michael Shannon said that he did not feel that there were any "stars", but "a group of people united by a passion for the material and wanting to honor the book".[23] He said Winslet and DiCaprio could only make such a good performance as a couple because of their friendship sinceTitanic. For Shannon, it was more important to prepare for the moment when he walked on the set than being concerned about the actors he was working with.[23] In the fight scenes between DiCaprio and Winslet, DiCaprio said, "So much of what happens between Frank and April in this film is what's left unsaid. I actually found it a real joy to do those fight scenes because finally, these people were letting each other have it".[17] Winslet described her working relationship with DiCaprio as "challenging" and "physically comfortable", but she also felt "pressure" working with him, and working with her then-husband Mendes.[16] She added, "the on-set atmosphere was very fluid in that way in that we'd all share ideas [...] without treading on each other's toes".[16] DiCaprio found the filming process physically and emotionally exhausting, that he postponed his next film for two months.[18]
Once filming was complete, Deakins had the filmnegative (Kodak Vision2 200T 5217 and 500T 5218) processed atDuArt Film and Video in New York, one of his favorite laboratories in the area.[22] Duringpost-production, handled byEFILM, Mendes deleted around 20 minutes of footage to keep it in the spirit of Yates' novel.[5]
Thomas Newman composed the soundtrack forRevolutionary Road; it is his fourth film score collaboration with Mendes. Consisting of fifteen tracks, Newman uses a variety of piano, strings, metallic sound effects andbasslines for a haunting minimalist sound.[24] The music was recorded at Newman Scoring Stage in Los Angeles and the album was released on December 23, 2008.[25]
Revolutionary Road was released on DVD andBlu-ray on June 2, 2009.[26] The Blu-ray edition includes anaudio commentary by Mendes, 26-minutes of deleted scenes, and two documentaries on the development of the project.[27]
Revolutionary Road premiered inLos Angeles on December 15, 2008, followed by a limited U.S. release on December 26, 2008, and then a wider release (1,058 theaters) on January 23, 2009. In most other countries, it was released between January 15–30, 2009.[28] The film earned $22.9 million at the domestic box office and $56.7 million internationally for a moderate worldwide total of $79.6 million[3] against a $45 million budget.
It takes the skill of stars Winslet and DiCaprio and director Mendes to get this film to a place where it involves and moves us ... Justin Haythe's screenplay does many good things, but it can't escape the arch lingo of the time ... his [Mendes] gift for eliciting naturalness, the core of this film finally cries out to us today, makes us see that the notion of characters struggling with life, with the despair of betraying their best selves because of what society will or won't allow, is as gripping and relevant now as it ever was. Or ever will be.[29]
Revolutionary Road received generally positive reviews from critics. On thereview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 213 reviews, with an average score of 6.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brilliantly acted and emotionally powerful,Revolutionary Road is a handsome adaptation of Richard Yates' celebrated novel".[30] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[31]
Rex Reed ofThe New York Observer gave the film a positive response; "a flawless, moment-to-momentautopsy of a marriage on the rocks and an indictment of theAmerican Dream gone sour" and "a profound, intelligent and deeply heartfelt work that raises the bar of filmmaking to exhilarating".[32]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone called the film "raw and riveting" and commented, "Directed with extraordinary skill by Sam Mendes, who warms the chill in the Yates-faithful script by Justin Haythe, the film is a tough road well worth traveling ... DiCaprio is in peak form, bringing layers of buried emotion to a defeated man. And the glorious Winslet defines what makes an actress great, blazing commitment to a character and the range to make every nuance felt".[33] Writing for theSan Francisco Chronicle,Mick LaSalle said, "Finally, this is a movie that can and should be seen more than once. Watch it one time through her eyes. Watch it again through his eyes. It works both ways. It works in every way. This is a great American film".[34]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gaveRevolutionary Road a maximum rating of four stars, commending the acting and screenplay and calling the film "so good it is devastating". Of DiCaprio and Winslet, he said, "they are so good, they stop being actors and become the people I grew up around".[35]Entertainment Weekly'sOwen Gleiberman graded the film B+ and commented, "The film is lavishly dark—some might say too dark—yet I'd suggest it has a different limitation: For all its shattering domestic discord, there's something remote and aestheticized about it. April brings a private well of conflict to her middle-class prison, but Winslet is so meticulous in her telegraphed despair that she intrigues us, moves us, yet never quite touches our unguarded nerves".[36] Joe Neumaier of theNew York Daily News said:
[the film] comes close but falls short of capturing Richard Yates' terrific novel... the movie—two-thirdsMad Men, one-thirdAmerican Beauty, with aJohn Cheever chaser—works best when focusing on the personal. Thankfully, it's there that Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe catch some of Yates' weighty ideas, and where Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet succeed in doing the heavy lifting... DiCaprio, round-shouldered and sleepy-eyed, and Winslet, watchful and alert, raise up each other and everything around them. Never once shadowed byTitanic, they suggest, often wordlessly, the box the Wheelers have found themselves in. Whereas the novel is told mostly from Frank's viewpoint, the movie is just as much April's, and Winslet, whether fighting back or fighting back tears, is sensational.[37]
Some film critics gave a mixed response.David Ansen ofNewsweek opined that it is "impeccably mounted—perhaps too much so. Mendes [...] has an innately theatrical style: everything pops off the screen a little bigger and bolder than life [...] Instead of losing myself in the story, I often felt on the outside looking in, appreciating the craftsmanship, but one step removed from the agony on display.Revolutionary Road is impressive, but it feels like a classic encased in amber".[38] Kirk Honeycutt ofThe Hollywood Reporter described the film as a "didactic, emotionally overblown critique of the soulless suburbs", and thought it was a repeat ofAmerican Beauty. He wrote, "Once more, the suburbs are well-upholstered nightmares and its denizens clueless—other than one estranged male. Everything is boldly indicated to the audience from arch acting styles to the wink-wink, nod-nod of its design. Indeed his actors play the subtext with such fury that the text virtually disappears. Subtlety is not one of Mendes' strong suits".[39]
Writing forVariety magazine,Todd McCarthy thought the film was "faithful, intelligent, admirably acted, superbly shot". He added, "It also offers a near-perfect case study of the ways in which film is incapable of capturing certain crucial literary qualities, in this case the very things that elevate the book from being a merely insightful study of a deteriorating marriage into a remarkable one [...] Even when the dramatic temperature is cranked up too high, the picture's underpinnings seem only partly present, to the point where one suspects that what it's reaching for dramatically might be all but unattainable—perhaps approachable only byPinter at his peak."[40] McCarthy later changed his opinion, callingRevolutionary Road "problematic" and that it "has some issues that just won't go away".[41] He concludes thatRevolutionary Road suffers in comparison toBilly Wilder'sThe Apartment andRichard Quine'sStrangers When We Meet because of its "narrow vision", even arguing that the television seriesMad Men handles the issues of conformity, frustration, and hypocrisy "with more panache and precision".[41]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.
