Revolutionary Road

I also had the chance to take a gander at Revolutionary Road, as it is going to be one of those films come Academy Awards time. It was a rather depressing film, as my girlfriend would tell you, and it ends up becoming the film representation of why some people just should not get married. Or, rather, why some people shouldn't get married after meeting someone at a party.  The film doesn't go into much detail about their courtship, and so I can't really say if it is telling me not to get married or simply be careful with whom to choose.

Either way, it's depressing as hell.  I mean, a marriage can only go so far when you have an unfaithful pansy like Frank, and a sometimes impossible woman like April.  And if you have a combination of the two...well, I guess it's all downhill from there.

I will say there is one character that I absolutely loved: the neighbor's insane asylum-ridden son, John Givings, played beautifully by Michael Shannon.  Shannon has always been an interesting actor to me, a guy with a rather soft speaking voice to begin with, with a soft way of acting as well.  If you haven't seen the movie, then I don't want to say too much about the character, but he seems the only sane character actually in the film.  And he gets away with saying the most amazing, true statements because his mother is always giving excuses. "He's sick," she says.  Well I don't care what he is, he's freakin' genius.  He picks apart Frank (for being the pansy he is), and he stops, looks at April, and realizes she is making his life hell as well.  He makes sure no one is left unaccounted for.  Beautiful writing there.

As a whole, I was left not really sure what to feel.  This seems to be a trend lately, as I have seen many films that leave me just...confused almost.  Benjamin Button, Full Metal Jacket, Enduring Love, and now Revolutionary Road.

Ugh. I'm gonna go home and watch Wall-E: a film that truly knows how to tell a story.