JIM reviews film “REVOLUTIONARY ROAD” – Travel to a world of Blathering Melodrama =

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“REVOLUTIONARY ROAD” – Travel to a world of Blathering Melodrama =

Rating: 7 of 10 stars (via DVD version shown at a local Library) =

After seeing this film, I found it hard to believe some people put it on their lists as one of the Best Pictures of 2008, since it’s not near that in my opinion. LEONARDO DiCAPRIO plays Frank, a fairly vapid guy with no real goals or special interests in life even tho he’s near 30. He marries April (KATE WINSLET), a “dreamer” who wants to be an actress and who later urges that they & their kids suddenly move to Paris. Leo’s dialogue is usually so stuffy & stilted, it often comes across as mere tedious blather. While he usually wants to talk about every little thing (especially negative comments re his wife), Kate (whose role allows her a much broader range of emotions) prefers to NOT talk about much of anything of real importance. There are various affairs, another hard-to-tolerate character of KATHY BATES as a windy real estate lady (with dialogue sounding very unnatural even in the 1950’s), & her mentally-challenged son John (MICHAEL SHANNON, in one of the few sparkling performances), sad events, etc. Overall, putting it together as a whole may be an achievement, but, despite some good acting, I found it disappointing & frequently hard to take (= enjoy).