Revolutionary Road doesn't live up to the buzz. Of course, to do so, it would have to be the most amazing and brilliantest film ever made ever, as the buzz has been borderline ridiculous. "Kate and Leo! Back together! Will she finally get her Oscar? Will they both? OOooohhEeehOoohI'llNeverLetGoJackAaaaaah!" It's not a terrible movie, it's beautifully shot and clearly adapted from a great book, which I look forward to reading. The supporting cast is one of the finest I've ever seen, with sharp, nuanced performances from David Harbour, Future of American Theater Zoe Kazan, Kathy Bates, Dylan Baker, Jay O. Sanders, Richard Fucking Easton!, and Michael Shannon, who has to at least be nominated for Supporting Actor. Which brings me to...
Michael Shannon should be a household name by now. His performance here as a clinically insane but powerfully observant truth-teller should put a firm lock on his place amidst the great character actors of his generation. He's one of those actors whose committment to his role is so absolute, it makes you laugh out loud in wonder at how he does that. Why, why, why, isn't he more famous? He's a genius! Genius!! Anyway...
So yeah, the supporting cast is the best part. I'm afraid Kate and Leo's performances are less impressive. There's a lot of shouting, screaming, crying, and throwing of things, and not much else of substance that would help us see them as fully developed characters. Of course this isn't entirely their fault, the problem is inextricably linked to the fact that it's a thin adaptation of a book, filled with explosions but not enough background to let us get to know the characters. Because of this, you really feel like you're watching Kate and Leo, not April and Frank, which makes their uberstardom distracting. I suspect that the pair, along with director/Winslet-hubby Sam Mendes were so excited to work together, they sort of got in a room and started furiously acting in a way that's too overblown for film, especially a film about waspy types trapped in suburban ennui. I also think this isn't the best film for a husband to direct his wife in, as it's all about the complex interweavings of love and hate in a marriage, and I don't think he had a truly objective perspective on their performances in those conflicts.
Another problem: Mad Men just does it better. That must be annoying for Sam Mendes. They should have asked Matthew Weiner to do a rewrite of the screenplay.
As previously mentioned, Zoe Kazan is a S-T-A-R. Now she's gone and won Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival for her turn as a young epileptic woman drifting through a hazy summer in New York. The film is visually arresting, and features both Kazan and Mark Rendell in performances of startling nuance and subtletly. New York Magazine accurately described her as "one of those annoying people who comes from an insanely connected family...yet has talent enough that she’s made a name for herself in her own right".
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