Revolutionary Road

I'm just getting into Richard Yates' novel Revolutionary Road. This is going to be a brutal read. The story is written with unaffected insight and objectivity. The kind that usually only comes decades after events, after the author has had time to process things enough to write about them honestly. I imagine Yates must have been driven by outrage as much as creativity in order to publish this novel in 1961.

While the story is set in the 50s it could just as easily take place today. So many today are trapped in the same soul-killing jobs and lives as Frank and April Wheeler. So many today face the same daily compromises, frustrations, and embarrassments. Really, nothing has changed in five decades.

Sam Mendes brought Alan Ball's examination of suburban duplicity, 'American Beauty', to life with frightening aplomb. I'm sure he will do the same with Justin Haythe's script for 'Revolutionary Road'. The difference is Revolutionary Road is anchored in everyday reality. For that very reason, because it is concerned with the mundane, it's a much more frightening story.

I can't think of two better actors than Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio for this story. I'm looking forward to this movie.

Based On A Novel

NPR has a review of Richard Yates' novel Revolutionary Road by writer Anthony Giardina. A movie of the same name starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio directed by Sam Mendes will open in January.

Revolutionary Road

It looks like Sam Mendes cuts to the bone once again. 'American Beauty' is one of my favorites -- a bald expose of derailed life found behind the locked doors of suburbia. 'Revolutionary Road', if anything, is more honest, less fanciful than 'American Beauty'. If it's possible, this one is a more direct indictment.

I have to go get the novel (of the same title) that the movie is based on, written by Richard Yates.