Revolutionary Road

There are a number of movies and television shows that explore the painful dilemma of bright women in the 1950’s who don’t fit into the conventional role of wife and mother in the suburbs.  Betty in Mad Men, Cathy in Far From Heaven, and Laura in The Hours exemplify these women.  Revolutionary Road is the story of another of these women, April Wheeler (Kate Winslet), who has a dream and an image of herself and her life, and feels trapped in a life and a marriage that becomes intolerable for her.  Revolutionary Road explores the Wheelers’ relationship, how she and her husband, Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) begin with the same dream, and how their marriage dissolves as they lose their sense of who they are and their vision for their life together.  The acting is terrific, especially Kate Winslet, who expresses a huge range of emotions.  I didn’t feel like this film reached the level of greatness of American Beauty, also by Sam Mendes, but it is a very good film and well worth seeing.