Revolutionary Road
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Who's in it: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
What's it about: Feeling trapped in the suburbs in the 1950s, a couple (DiCaprio, Winslet) tries to plot their escape to Paris.
Lost generation: He's a cog in a big business machine in Manhattan; she's a would-be actress who feels smothered by being a stay-home mom in Connecticut suburbia. They had big dreams when they met; can they still make them come true? The answer is increasingly bittersweet in this fascinating film by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), built on the searing novel by Richard Yates. He has a superb cast, led by DiCaprio and Winslet as a couple who find themselves more and more at odds. DiCaprio is explosive but untrustworthy, while Winslet has a porcelain-like beauty that cracks with disappointment. Oscar tip: Watch for Michael Shannon as a neighbor's son, who burns hot in the scenes in which he speaks truths no one wants to hear.
Long story short: This is one of the season's strongest Oscar contenders.
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