Revolutionary Road

This was a good, but ultimately depressing movie. Maybe parts of it hit too close to home. Which, I guess, is what a good movie is supposed to do. In the end, though, I found myself hoping that this couple would just up and go to Paris already. Yes, I wanted the happy ending. But, of course, we can all identify with people who’ve had to compromise their dreams to get by in the world. To some extent, we’ve all done it.
Long story short, this movie is about a couple who view themselves as special and outside of the mainstream. These are people who are meant for great things. These are people who are meant to change the world, or at least affect it. But somewhere down the line, after two children and working dead-end jobs to make ends meet, that sense of self has changed into a suburban nightmare in which one day blends into the next, and years slip away in the blink of an eye.
Sound familiar? If you’re over 40, it should.
In the end, perhaps what made this movie ultimately depressing is how familiar it seemed. While I can’t identify with the pathos these characters lived under, I can certainly feel some familiarity in the mechanics that drive it. So… is this a good movie because of it? I don’t know. But somehow I suspect these characters will haunt my dreams.
4 out of 5 stars