Revolutionary Road
June 2009 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The book by Richard Yates on which this movie is based was published in the early 1960s. It was written earlier than that as an indictment of the 1950s' American Dream. At that time, in the decade and a half after World War II, the suburbs were being established as not only a place to live but a place very close to paradise. But cookie-cutter homes led to cookie-cutter lives, and many people found themselves locked in to a lifestyle that offered nothing in the way of individuality.

Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) have woken up to find themselves in the middle of this identity crisis. They thought they could beat the game and remain individuals, but they have actually become what they hated. April comes up with the idea that they should take their savings and move to Paris. She will work while Frank discovers what it is that he really wants to pursue. Then Frank is offered a gigantic promotion with a much greater salary and can’t refuse it. The couple’s relationship, already unstable, goes on the rocks.

Though director Sam Mendes’ observations on the suburban ‘50s lifestyle are on the mark, I felt the balance of the film was off. We don’t get to see enough of the Wheelers’ happy times together for their tragedy to really register. When they are suddenly bickering, they seem more quarrelsome than tragic. Winslet pulls it off best with a deep and searching performance that creates a memorable character.

The Blu-ray Disc looks quite good. The picture is very natural-looking; one feels that he or she is watching real people. Skin tones are remarkably realistic and colors throughout are nicely saturated and rich, deliberately just short of the "Kodak moment" school of photographic images. The focus is sharp without any edge enhancement and contrast is good in both dark and light scenes. The sound is excellent, too, though there are no big effects. Still, the music is nicely spread out and the dialogue clearly discerned in the center channel.

The extras include the usual production featurette, a little better than usual but still somewhat fluffy, and also a very important biography of the original book’s author. Using a wealth of period photographs and talking-head commentary from biographers, family members, and friends, the featurette is quite thorough and interesting, and knowing something about the author enhanced my enjoyment of the film. There are also some deleted scenes worth seeing with commentary by Mendes, as well as a theatrical trailer.

This is not an upbeat movie. Try not to watch it if you are going through some emotional upheaval, but it is a good character study and presents one award-worthy performance from Winslet plus a biography of an author who spoke for an era.

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