What happens when the suburban dissatisfaction of American Beauty meets the stylized cool of Mad Men as played by the world’s favorite bow-straddling couple? You get something that ends up looking a whole lot like the trailer for Revolutionary Road.
The film reunites doomed Titanic lovebirds Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time since an inconvenient iceberg marred their happy ending 11 years ago. Oscar-winning American Beauty director Sam Mendes helms this look at the underbelly of the American dream based on the acclaimed 1961 novel by Richard Yates.
Set in the 1950s, the film has Kate and Leo play a young married couple living in the Connecticut suburbs who find themselves boxed in by the weight of societal expectations. Their successful exterior — big home, two kids — belies internal frustrations with their work and the dreams they once had for their futures.
From the trailer, Revolutionary Road seems to have all of the middle-class angst of Mendes’ previous work, but none of its dark humor. Still its serious tone is a welcome departure from the fluffy fare of summer and sounds the opening salvo in the race for that shiny naked golden guy named Oscar.
So, what do you think? Is it neat to see Kate and Leo together again minus a big sinking ship? Are you ready to immerse yourself in the film’s mid-century middle-class malaise? And, seriously, how could anyone be that unhappy being married to Kate Winslet?
