A "Revolutionary" Ride

Last week I promised that I would write about Revolutionary Road, which I went to see last Monday night. I decided to wait until Movie Monday, to give it a week to percolate in my brain. 

** sidenote ** Although I started this on Monday, it's now being finished and posted on Tuesday. Sorry for the delay. I'm choosing to blame the weather. ** end sidenote **

Let me start by saying I think it's a really well-acted movie. From Kate Winslet on down through the cast of lead and supporting characters, they are all stunning. Kathy Bates is a perfect "I just promise I'm trying not to be nosey" real estate agent. Zoe Kazan (thank the nice folks on the movie's website for listing the full cast) is amazing as the not-quite-innocent girl from the typing pool. And Michael Shannon is almost terrifying as he speaks the truths no one else will speak. 

And then there's the look of the movie. It's gorgeous. The 1950s suburbs are pretty. The 1950s city isn't too gritty. The clothing and cars and furniture, which in some movies just kind of wash over you, are so perfectly tied in to the movie that you simply feel it all around you. 

In case you don't know the story, the movie is about a young couple who -- with the world open in front of them -- choose the safety of the suburbs over the uncertainty of Paris. As life moves on around them, they become more and more desperate, both dealing with it in their own ways. 

I guess that's how the entire movie felt: Desperate. And I appreciated it for its desperation. Which is not to say that I entirely enjoyed the movie, but I did appreciate it. And the blame for some of my lack of enjoyment belongs squarely on the heads of the audience, and not on the movie, itself. 

You see, for some reason, people kept laughing at fairly strangely inappropriate times during the movie. And because we were all feeling uncomfortable, a solitary laugh would kind of become a quick cascade of "oh, God, what do we do?" laughter through the theater. By the time the third or fourth of those mood-breakers happened, I was finding it hard to re-immerse myself in the film. I think if I had seen it in an entirely quiet movie-house, I might have had a different reaction by the time it was over. 

So, here's the scoop: Worth the accolades? Yes. Worth taking the time to see it in a theater, as opposed to a hopefully-quiet screening at home? Not necessarily. Overall grade: B. (But if they want to send me the DVD for a home screening, I'd be happy to revisit their grade. :-)