tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4452847227224926674..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Revolutionary RoadBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9165731636412217462012-01-15T10:46:18.335-08:002012-01-15T10:46:18.335-08:00Bettina said...
One could argue that simply watchi...Bettina said...<br />One could argue that simply watching Leo makes the movie awesome. Personally I could even enjoy a silent movie with him. To the point now, I doubt that the movie aims to point out how life was in the American suburbs in the 50s...well, partially, but I see the main point more in descripting how a men-woman relationships looks like in real, not necessarily meaning just marriages now. It shows how it differs when a woman and a man loves.because they both seemed to truly love each other. well,the only way she could be happy, was to make HIM happy, i think this is why she wanted to move so much. to make HIM happy and by that herself. He was the priority for her. However, Leo, or any other man, places himself on the first position and doesnt really care whether his wife feels like killing herself...icegirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09528284491227176132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57389797305629180332010-05-16T22:22:12.253-07:002010-05-16T22:22:12.253-07:00I didn't connect Kate's dilemma to the sub...I didn't connect Kate's dilemma to the suburbs, the era or her situation. I saw it more of an existential crisis...trying to break free from the chains of what is expected, trying to leave the ant-like trail and do something meaningful. Being truly alive is hard in this world, both back then and today the same. I watch my mother attempt to convince my father to up and leave all the time. I can tell she feels as though she is missing something in her life. I don't blame her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68247402324608767962009-02-06T21:55:00.000-08:002009-02-06T21:55:00.000-08:00I want to know where I can buy those high waist sh...I want to know where I can buy those high waist shorts she wears at the beach.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74630025082485938152009-01-26T03:34:00.000-08:002009-01-26T03:34:00.000-08:00actually, in "little children"...it's not the subu...actually, in "little children"...it's not the suburbs in connecticut - it's massachusetts. i just wanted to point that out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46954419906188498462009-01-16T16:48:00.000-08:002009-01-16T16:48:00.000-08:00bee -I think that was one of the most genuinely ac...bee -<BR/><BR/>I think that was one of the most genuinely accurate analysis of Revolutionary Road that I have yet to hear.Hamasarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16849131562499811429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49993067817357626882009-01-12T16:34:00.000-08:002009-01-12T16:34:00.000-08:00P. S.: Mr. McEwan, for what it may be worth, your...P. S.: Mr. McEwan, for what it may be worth, your anger at your religion teacher who abandoned his wife and family through suicide rather than pay the price for his crime strikes me as perfectly reasonable and justified. Yes, he did take the coward's way out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80971874181508865132009-01-12T16:26:00.000-08:002009-01-12T16:26:00.000-08:00charlotte said:> In E.T., hadn't the> fa...charlotte said:<BR/><BR/><BR/>> In <I>E.T.</I>, hadn't the<BR/>> father bailed on his wife and 3<BR/>> kids?<BR/><BR/><BR/>Not only had the bastard done that, he took his new girlfriend on a trip to Mexico which he evidently had promised his wife and young daughter but failed to follow through with.<BR/><BR/>(Excuse me, but men who run out on their kids are among the scummiest scum on our planet. Real Men take care of their children.)<BR/><BR/>******<BR/><BR/>V-word: distall -- What the restaurant distaff does when didinner for the customers is running late.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3739675155524260002009-01-08T00:07:00.000-08:002009-01-08T00:07:00.000-08:00this is filled with SPOILERS about Revolutionary R...this is filled with SPOILERS about Revolutionary Road, so be forewarned...<BR/><BR/>I think many are making the error with this film in thinking that the characters and their prejudices are defacto 'spokespeople' for the (in this case) filmmakers POV.<BR/><BR/>I really don't see the film's primary intent as being to attack the 'evil' suburbs.<BR/><BR/>The film begins with Kate's character pretty conclusively failing at her dreams of being an artist (actress) and THIS is the touchstone of the entire fllm - her increasingly frustrated efforts to use her husband as a proxy for her failed ambitions and her husband's complete inability to comprehend this (and her inability to communicate this to HIM).<BR/><BR/>I more see her character's hatred of the suburbs as being part of her frustration with herself. It is important for her that her husband hate the suburbs too insofar if he gets complacent, he will never fulfill HER dreams of some achieving sort of 'greatness'.<BR/><BR/>Not that the suburbs are completely shown as being a POSITIVE force - there is definitely 'the nail that sticks up must be hammered down' element here - which is a major factor in sending Kate's character round the bend.<BR/><BR/>I actually see the Mike Shannon character as not being the 'reasonable voice of suburban-hatred' so much as he offers a mirror version of what Kate could become if she continues to try to make do with thing as they are (likely with well-intentioned psychiatrists trying to 'cure' her unhappiness via shock treatments). It is because he is so much LIKE her that he is able to really cut through her defenses (and not exactly with positive results).<BR/><BR/>I see the surface beauty of the particular suburb serving as a comment on the beauty of Kate's character. What she seems to be on the surface to others is a complete misrepresentation of what she really is - pretty much a f*cked up monster who is yet (to me at least) a pitiful victim to her illusions.<BR/><BR/>As for Leo, his character is a charming, shallow guy who gets swept up and away in her whirlwind - seeming to never really understand what happened and left to forever try to figure out WHAT he could have done to make things turn out differently.<BR/><BR/>Until this film, I was not a huge fan of Sam Mendes' films - actually, I think "American Beauty" was kind of the facile attack on the suburbs that THIS film is now being accused of being.<BR/><BR/>But while some of Kate's speeches were overwritten and gave the impression of being too on the nose (although in retrospect I think maybe they were not), at least for me, I ultimately found the film ultimately very affecting and sad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2610233112147823552009-01-07T20:07:00.000-08:002009-01-07T20:07:00.000-08:00Miss Landers was eleventy gazillion times hotter t...Miss Landers was eleventy gazillion times hotter than Kate Winslet.<BR/><BR/>And, yeah, the suburbs suck. <I>We get it.</I> Can we move the bashing to gated communities? Condos? Co-ops?<BR/><BR/>AND!<BR/><BR/>My WVW is "purtedic." This joke tells itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63115644023941304392009-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:002009-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00Richard Yates, the author of Revolutionary Road, b...Richard Yates, the author of Revolutionary Road, based some of the novel on his first marriage. He was not a happy man. Some call him a writer's writer. He may have been overshadowed by John Updike. Interestingly, Yates did a stint of speechwriting for RFK. <BR/>Interesting Trivia: At one point one of Yate's daughters, Monica, was dating Larry David. She and Larry had dinner with Yates who terrified David. This became part of the Seinfeld episode where the gang has dinner with Elaine's father (and Jerry turns his leather jacket inside out because it's raining). <BR/>Blake Bailey wrote an excellent Yate's bio a couple years ago. Great book, even if you don't know Yate's fiction. (Maybe THAT should have been the movie...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76624079996913394982009-01-07T11:24:00.000-08:002009-01-07T11:24:00.000-08:00APRIL IN PARIS. Great title but wrong Paris. April...APRIL IN PARIS. Great title but wrong Paris. April should douse her suburban ennui by pulling up stakes and moving to Paris, Texas. Now there's a movie I'd pay to see. Assuming there were plenty of spit-takes.Sam Thorntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049389264459683859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84825656358001018312009-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:002009-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00I'm with Kirk - if we must have more suburbia bash...I'm with Kirk - if we must have more suburbia bashing, let's at least keep it in the current century. We kinda get it about the '50s at this point.<BR/><BR/>But the "lies" of the media hit some people hard. Personally, I never thought Leave it to Beaver was a documentary, just a funny show about recognizable human behavior (okay, except maybe for vacuuming in pearls), so I didn't sink into despair when I realized that it ignored infidelity, racism, alcohol abuse and McCarthyism. So many missed opportunities for Very Special Episodes! :)<BR/><BR/>WV: Trounto - the Lone Ranger's fishing buddy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6086333135809502592009-01-07T02:51:00.000-08:002009-01-07T02:51:00.000-08:00The best suburban ennui film was maybe the first -...The best suburban ennui film was maybe the first -- No Down Payment in 1957. Tony Randall as an alcoholic used car salesman! Pat Hingle, Barbara Rush, Joanne Woodward, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Sheree North, Patricia Owens. Everything you ever wanted to know about 50s America and its attitudes toward success, work, gender, sex, alcohol, religion and race via the intersecting lives of four couples. Great stuff, but not on DVD. Pops up on Fox Movie Channel occasionally. Worth keeping an eye out for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-15801164351541842192009-01-06T22:07:00.000-08:002009-01-06T22:07:00.000-08:00Ken, Ken, Ken....I dragged my beloved over to the ...Ken, Ken, Ken....I dragged my beloved over to the Laemmle in Santa Monica Sunday night for a date night. Ooouuchhhhhh.<BR/>Michael Shannon. Yes indeed. I hope he gets a best supporting. he deserves it!<BR/>It didn't help that my better half smoked some medicinal weed before the film.<BR/>Rather than Leo, I woulda liked Clive Owen. And Kate was great as always nut I maybe woulda liked the other Cate, as in Blanchett.<BR/>And every time I see Kathy Bates, I think of her takin' it to James Caan's feet, a hobblin' all the way. Her hubby in Revolutionary Road and her son in same aka Michael Shannon were great! Gimme Kate's white dress and I want the blue one too! Ciggggarettes aplenty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48051547860775389962009-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:002009-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:00"I think Spielberg got it closer to right in E.T. ..."I think Spielberg got it closer to right in E.T. -- it's a great environment to grow up in."<BR/><BR/>Rinaldo: In E.T., hadn't the father bailed on his wife and 3 kids?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62154272952749067002009-01-06T20:15:00.000-08:002009-01-06T20:15:00.000-08:00"Not having seen Revolutionary Road, the question ..."Not having seen Revolutionary Road, the question I have about the suburbs is "does Kate Winslet cope with the bleakness by getting naked?""<BR/><BR/>If so, I'd love to be her traveling companion to Flint, Michigan.Tim W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16860726607106078491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29250314683871016832009-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:002009-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:00I think some of you are missing the point about ma...I think some of you are missing the point about many of those films set in the suburbs. Your defense of the suburbs was that it was a great place to grow up in. How many of you live there now? I think suburbs are like amusement parks. Great for kids, hell for adults. I grew up in a suburby type neighbourhood, but moved out as soon as I could. I enjoyed it as a kid, but as I got older, it lost it's appeal. And when we were looking for a house to buy, one of my criteria was `not in the suburbs'. Hell, neither of my parents (now divorced), nor any other member of my family live in the suburbs, now.Tim W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16860726607106078491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34249808212448158372009-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:002009-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:00Isn't this about the 20th movie or so that goes wi...Isn't this about the 20th movie or so that goes with the theme "The 50s and/or the suburbs suck"? A cutting edge idea for about 1983 or so, but not now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-41269208212634731522009-01-06T19:08:00.000-08:002009-01-06T19:08:00.000-08:00Not having seen Revolutionary Road, the question I...Not having seen Revolutionary Road, the question I have about the suburbs is "does Kate Winslet cope with the bleakness by getting naked?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65907239291271206202009-01-06T15:06:00.000-08:002009-01-06T15:06:00.000-08:00"Paul Duca said... Doug...this family friend who t..."Paul Duca said... <BR/>Doug...this family friend who took his own life after being caught embezzling from his company--the SECOND time? Even if the firm was was willing to accept restitution over prosecution the first time it happened, I though the usual procedure was to terminate the person--and while it was decent of them to give the man another chance, shouldn't they at least transferred him to another position where he didn't have access to company funds?"<BR/><BR/>I don't even know what firm it was. I certainly can not answer for why they were so stupidly lenient the first time around. I would certainly have at least fired him. Clearly they wanted avoid the publicity of a trial, and probably didn't want stockholders to know. But I don't know why the left him near the cookie jar he'd already shown he couldn't keep his mitts out of, and so he did it again.<BR/><BR/>You're asking me questions I have no way of answering. The company decisions seem as dopey to me as they do to you.<BR/><BR/>"Emily Blake said... <BR/>It may be a fine film, I'm just not sure who will voluntarily see it. Maybe men who want to convince their girlfriends to stop pushing for marriage."<BR/><BR/>Extremely funny comment.<BR/><BR/>WV: unseque. When a talking head on TV decides to stay on the same topic after all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88863118415941452342009-01-06T13:59:00.000-08:002009-01-06T13:59:00.000-08:00I wasn't a big fan, though I found the film more h...I wasn't a big fan, though I found the film more honest than the adults' scenes in "American Beauty." In order for the movie to work, two things had to happen that weren't happening:<BR/>1) We had to see them happy at the beginning. Sam Mendes inexplicably starts off with a painful seven-minute fight scene that leaves the story, and the actors, nowhere to go.<BR/>2) We had to believe they were going to go to Paris. Never thought that.<BR/><BR/>Also not the biggest fan of Michael Shannon's acting--thought he overplayed when he should have underplayed.Greg Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12476688473774894464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88941855326136224972009-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:002009-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:00Winslet fan though I am, her angst seemed heavy-ha...Winslet fan though I am, her angst seemed heavy-handed to me. I was aware of the acting. I thought Leo was more convincing. But yes, the nut job stole it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-27550383074009696132009-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:002009-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:00P.S. The above comment is mine, I misfired.P.S. The above comment is mine, I misfired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61131293306743158982009-01-06T11:28:00.000-08:002009-01-06T11:28:00.000-08:00Let the record show, Your Honors, that Miss Lander...Let the record show, Your Honors, that Miss Landers was quite hot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46386950714331266302009-01-06T11:22:00.000-08:002009-01-06T11:22:00.000-08:00Saw it. Hated it. Hated them (the characters, not ...Saw it. Hated it. Hated them (the characters, not the actors). Couldn't figure out why the characters dated, much less married each other.<BR/><BR/>The psycho really was the most entertaining, if not squirm inducing, part of the movie.<BR/><BR/>Just saw 7 Pounds... so, what, they pitched I AM LEGEND but, without CG vampires????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com