Revolutionary Road

'Death of a Salesman 2'

Sam Mendes is an interesting director. He started his career on the stage and made the hard transition from a stage director to a film director. Hell, he made the hardest one by having gone from stage to several oscar winning and nominated movies. Please, tell me if you have heard of these two, American Beauty and Road to Perdition.

American Beauty was a modern day film exploring the problems inherent in most long sustained marriages in today's fast paced image conscious culture. And yes, that is where the famous floating bag scene is from. Road to Perdition explores the topics of immigration, freedom, and especially the bond between a son and father. Mendes most recent film, Revolutionary Road feels like a mix of these two films. It explores a newer married couple and the problems they face of settling down and finding happiness in their new roles as a family and not as individuals during a similar time period to that of Road to Perdition. So of course Mendes has done all of the homework to prepare for this film.

Although I don't know much about Justin Haythe who adapted the book Revolutionary Road into a screenplay, he does seem to show much promise. The movie itself is very symbolic and the words used mean something, even the most vague ones. However, I believe Haythe and Mendes have screwed up. Revolutionary Road should have been a stage play. The setting rarely changes, the power of the movie comes from the words and occassionally Mendes does make some powerful images. However, these images can easily be adapted to a stage. Not only that, but the topic matter and the obvious impact that Death of a Salesman has on the movie lends the overall feel of the movie to that of a stage adaptation.

Leonardo DiCaprio's character Frank is a fast talking unhappy man trapped in a job he can't stand with a wife who doesn't let him feel masculine. He has two children already, but interestingly enough, the film doesn't focus on the family as a whole, but on the mother and father of this overworked and under appreciated family. Kate Winslet (Sam Mendes' actual wife)plays the unhappy and struggling wife of two who always dreamed big and bohemian. Both are stuck in an American society fighting for the American dream, even though neither of them particularly want it. Their marriage has become old hat and stale and too perfect. They now have 1 chance to escape and rediscover themselves and their love and the movie focuses on their ability to leave the cycle of work and American dreams and values. The movie works best when watching Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have intense arguments/discussions. The reactions to each others words tell us so much more about the characters than the words or their actions. It is exquisitely written for intense dramatic scenes. It even has raison d'etre as a mentally insane man.

As for how this realtes to Death of a Salesman. Besides taking on similar subject matter and just approaching it differently, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the closest thing I've seen to an adult version of Happy. He is still a fats talking liar who cheats around. He wanted more in life, but like his old man he is settling and continuing his habits of lying and cheating. Like his father he works as a salesman and wishes for himself and his family to have been big. At one point in the movie, DiCaprio's character asks the company's boss if he remembers his father who used to work in Yonkers...where Willy worked. Also, this scene in some way mirrors the scene where Willy approaches his boss to ask for a raise and gets fired, except it mirrors it differently in that DiCaprio comes to quit and is given a better offer. This movie feels like a direct spiritual sequel to Death of a Salesman.

In the end, the movie is okay and feels like it is in the wrong format. Although the acting and the writing is superb. This is a continuation of Mendes exploration of issues surrounding the American Dream. Mendes should direct a film version of Death of a Salesman and then sell it and Revolutionary Road and American Beauty in a box set as the American Dream trilogy. It isn't a happy look, but it is necessary to see the limitations and the consequences of not following your dreams instead of the collective dream. Although it is a good film, it should be a play and it is not Mendes best look at the topic of the Dream.

7.5 out of 10

Wannabe