I find myself in the unique position of having watched a movie that was beautifully acted, deirected, and shot, and absolutely hating it. Why did anyone feel that this grim, proudly sad movie that trumpeted the hopelessness of the 50s housewife needed to be made? I would rather go see drivel like Inkheart. At least then I wouldn't leave the theater feeling just as empty as these people did.

Words cannot begin to describe how much I despised every cringe-indusing, eerie-feeling second of this film. Not even the wonderful Kate Winslet is wonderful, in fact she's pretty bad, just like the rest of the cast. Also, how did Michael Shannon get a nomination? He didn't even belong in the film, and he was painful to watch.

You basicaly watch two people in a fake relationship argue for an hour and a half.

Never have I seen a more selfish, ungrateful and disgusting set of people. What is so wrong with their life? I can't believe their behavior. This movie is all fake and wrong. It's all too painfully pretentious and self-aware. For god's sake it's called being thankful for what you have and if you aren't it's called a DIVORCE!!! Get over yourselves.

This movie was extremely boring. I kept waiting for something to happen but nothing did. Don't waste your time.

Revolutionary road is the worst film of the year.Di Caprio makes the worst performance of the year.

One of the most undiluted, bravest and incredible films i have ever seen. You feel the tension, hate, love and thanks to Sam Mendes, the killing blow which is the lie of the perfect american dream which can be found without problems. The film is so devastating andit will leave you sitting in your seat pondering the film, letting the feeling sink in...just like any masterpiece should.

Despite having at its source a critically acclaimed book and the casting of several usually good actors in key roles, this dreary venture had me wishing that for once they had tossed Rob Schneider (under less urgent circumstances, by no means my favourite comic) into the mix for some relief. As it is, thank Kathy Bates for providing the only light refreshment as the one character who appears at home in her role. The delivery is stilted and stagey and the supposedly 1950's dialogue, set and props are rife with anachronisms, at times humorously so but more often just jarring (even a bad episide of 'Mad Men" is more authentic). If you're intrigued by the possibilities of the wife's take on a well-worn Death of a Salesman theme, read the book; you won't want to after seeing the movie.… Expand

This is a great movie and a serious movie for adults. I think the bad ratings come only from those audience members who constantly want "escape" rather than deepening. I think Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are in top form here, and Kathy Bates and Michael Shannon are terrific in supporting roles. There isn't a single scene or moment that rings false. It's not a nice holiday movie, but a tragedy very well-observed by Sam Mendes.… Expand

A good film If you want to take a nap. or sleep profoundly! My God! I can't belive I spent THREE hours of my day watching it!

A beautiful, heartwrenching film with signature performances from Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio. Sam Mendes delves honestly into a marriage that is running on empty, without the hopes and dreams it started out with. Every credit in this movie is flawless and I am baffled by the Academys indifference to it. It is not a cold heartless movie but a tragically real and honest film.

Sam Mendes is at his best with this kind of subject matter. Revolutionary Road is probably his best work since American Beauty, although I loved JarHead as well. I was deeply moved by this movie and it was extremely pressing for me. I felt almost nauseous at the movie theatre at times. It was very tragic, but sadly so true. Revolutionary road has a great cast and Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have amazing chemistry on screen as we have seen before in Titanic over ten years ago. I was actually thinking that this movie is almost like sequel to Titanic. What if Jack wouldnt have died? I also want to give extra credit for Michael Shannon, who well deserved his Oscar nomination. In this world where societies norms dictate how people live their lives the only sane person was the the crazy person. So it raises the thought that was he even crazy or was he the only normal one in the whole film? Shannons character sums up the whole theme of the movie and he said all the things that people are afraid to say, or even think.… Expand

It's a beautiful film ! Oscar for diCaprio !!!

Easily the best film of 2008. It is SO annoying that a film that tackles the subject of sububan unhappiness is getting such low scores from those who think it is too depressing. Life can be depressing! To assume that all films should be happy and void of emotions such as loss, fear, emptiness, sorrow and regret would make going to the movies a bore. Mendes is a master filmmaker and this ranks as one of his best works. This film is only for those who can appreciated the mastery of a genius director and actors at the top of their game!… Expand

Very depressing from start to finish and was disturbing in the end.

This is a wonderful picture for adults, with a fantastic cast all the way around-- Winslet strong as hell and DiCaprio continues to be just mindblowingly good (how lucky we are to have a working, young leading man of this gigantic talent, with great taste, and who isn't crazy). No, it's not a chipper romp, it's art. The kind that Kafka says we should seek to wound and stab us and act as an ax for the frozen sea inside. This movie stands at the opposite pole from the laughable tripe that is "blah, blah Benjamin Button," against which it competes, and dwarfs with its scalding dignity.… Expand

Obra maestra, grandes actuaciones, el tiempo dejara en claro que esta es una mejores peliculas del año y de la decada, kate winslet en el mejor papel de su carrera y del año, ella merece el oscar. di caprio excelente tambien merece el precio o al menos la nominación, los secundarios de lujo. al igual que la ambientación, la musica de tomas newman me dejo con los pelos parados en el momento final. un final devastador, me encanto la pelicula… Expand

Can people really find their authentic selves? Are communication and love possible or are people doomed to live in their own little ego-shells? The two characters in this film struggle with these questions. Not a happy movie, but pretty true to the soul of its subject matter. Most people simply won't like this movie because they prefer not to deal with these hard existential matters. I don't think anyone involved in the making of this movie was out to win a popularity contest.… Expand

"Revolutionary Road" is only poignant (as a movie) for its commendable investigation into the suffocating nature of suburbia and its ability - somewhat - to imbue its audience with the necessary degree of pessimism to escape it; cinematically, however, this movie fails on several counts: it fails to escape - or provide a nuanced version - of the traditional narrative of the 'couple,' it fails to provide any worthy performances, and it fails to do any justice to its laudable inspiration: Richard Yeates' arresting 1961 novel.… Expand

This film is one of the best of 2008 and one of the bests i've ever seen. Sam Mendes is a great director, that makes you get every detail in the film. Winslet gives an stunning performance as well as her good friend leonardo Dicaprio. They both deserved an oscar nomination for this film, and the film itself deserved it for best picture, just as in the Golden Globes! C'mon it is better than MILK! Anyway, it is a great movie, with intense dialogue and characters. Mise-en-scene is excellent and the atmosphere felt in this movie is unbelievable!… Expand

Outstanding! Winslet gives us the performance of the year!

Powerfully acted, Kate Winslet is excellent, but the entire cast is outstanding. God attention to period detail, very well written and directed. The film never loses focus and is always interesting.

Masterpiece. Its gonna do ZERO box office, though, cause with today's climate it might cut too close to home for a lot of people. This isn't the time for going to the movies and watching films about utter hopelessness and the vacuous lie that is the American dream.

Usually, I love this sort of movie, but this one left me cold. The dialogue is too stilted. They don't sound like real people. It's a shame, because basically I like the theme of the story, but the director tends to hit you over the head with it. It's a shame, because it's a waste of a wonderful cast.

Great movie with incredible acting and a very believeable 50's setting. This one is sure to garner several Oscar nominations...and it deserves every one!

Amazing performances!

A predictable disappointment , if such a thing is possible. First, what must have seemed like shocking material in the '50s (adultery! abortion! -- all lurking just below the surface of affluent post-war suburbia) is ho-hum today. Second, Mendes is just too enamored with surfaces -- the movie should win costume and art direction Oscars -- to get at seem underbellies. As far as the performances go, you have to admire the chutzpah of casting the protagonists of one of the most iconic screen romances in cinematic history in these roles. But precisely because they have to overcome our expectations generated by Titanic, the performances call attention to themselves -- they are most definitely crafted -- in a way that I found distracting. Michael Shannon as the "village crazy who speaks the truth" has a pair of great scenes, but all said maybe Oscar got it right in largely ignoring this one.… Expand

If you're looking for Yellow Brick Road, you may not appreciate Revolutionary Road. But, if you're interested in the "human heart in conflict with itself" (Faulkner) as well as excellent performances and precise direction, you will agree that Mendes' film is a masterpiece. This film is for all of you that wish you had a hearing aid to turn down while Hellboy 2 is playing in the neighboring theater.....… Expand

Really intelligent, comprehensive, engaging and tragic just asit was intended to be.

I love this movie, in a screwed up kind of way because it so impressively comments on how even the couples that are put on pedestals have their own secrets behind closed doors, very somber and unnerving throughout but really well done.

Great acting for people who like realistic depictions.

One of the bravest films I've seen.. no easy answers provided for the audience.. anyone who thinks these 2 characters are merely "delusional" are either deliberately and crudely trying to white wash what this is about, or, sadly they just dont get it

This is a very thought provoking movie about the human condition, the difficulties of intimacy, the struggle to find meaning in life.

I totally got it. I don't think it is a movie people in general would get because it is for women who want/ed out of the ''standard''. The line where she says that they had another child so that it is clear the first one was not a mistake, WOW, that was so powerful.

This movie is good. It's also a bit over the top and melodramatic. DiCaprio and Winslet are good actors, but I honestly didn't buy them in either role; I felt I was aware I was watching actors the entire time. I don't want to be too negative, because there are some very good moments in the film, and the opening minutes are especially good. However, I personally felt the film just came up short of its (quite huge) potential.… Expand

Heartfelt and heartbreaking, "Revolutionary Road" stayed with me long after I left the theater.

Here is another example of a fine novel poorly translated by Hollywood. Although it is beautifully filmed and beautifully acted, this movie ultimately lacks the heart and sensitively crafted innuendo of the novel,. leaving the viewer totally indifferent towards the characters.

Winslet is outstanding - and makes the movie worth the price. Led to great ranging debates in our house, women, men, relationships, dreams, socialisation and so on. But there is little in the chracters to like and less to love. Beautifully shot.

not a strong adaptation. would be better off on the stage. mediocre acting at best by both leads, and i found the music irritating as it directly echoed the "american beauty" soundtrack from 1999. the "new yorker" review basically sums it up for me.

Winslet almost singlehandedly blows the movie with an overly enunciating impression of a 50's housewife as accurate as a Gwyneth British accent.

The 4 is only for the art direction and costumes. The script was glacially paced, ponderous, and predictable. Dialogue was stagey, melodramatic, overwrought , and so on the nose that it made mine hurt. Winslet and diCaprio tried, but Mendes should have had them tone down the screaming. At least when I saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on TV I could stop i watching it. This, I paid 9 bucks to see so I had to stay till the bitter end. And how stupid was diCaprio's character in their last scene not to think Winslet's was going to kill herself?… Expand

I think all the folks negatively reviewing this film are calling it too "depressing" but as far as I'm concerned, that is what the film was trying to achieve. There is no shining light in this film. Its about two people who will never care to understand each other nor will they ever find happiness in the next thrill they search for. The direction is magnificent, the performances are amazing, paticularly Winslet's who completely absorbs you in her character's ordeals. She is heartbreaking and believable and deserves all the praise she has received and will continue to receive as awards season continues.… Expand

Does this movie sound familiar to you? Directed by Sam Mendes, it deals with the spiritual crisis of its profoundly disenchanted lead, unhappily married and enmeshed in a financially rewarding but tremendously soul-killing suburban lifestyle, and who seeks to make a series of impractical, unrealistic, even desperate changes that irreversibly affect said character's marriage and existence (in both the philosophical and literal senses). If you guessed American Beauty, give yourself half a point...and essentially Mendes' Revolutionary Road IS American Beauty, less 44 years in time and ALL the humor (except, curiously, in the movie's final image). Kevin Spacey's iconic Lester Burnham from the 1999 blockbuster undergoes a sex change operation, emerging as April Wheeler (Kate Winslet), who feels that time has totally passed her by, that her potential has been squandered, and that her only choice is to uproot her corporate-drone husband Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio, whose developing facial blockiness really serves him well here) and seldom-seen kids and reinvent herself in Paris, considered the hot spot for bohemian freedom in 1955. (One essental difference between April and Lester: 1955 middle-class life being what it was, it's comparably far more difficult for April to "rule"!) The two central performances are certainly powerful enough that after the knock-down drag-out that occurs in the first 10 minutes, you'll stop associating the stars with Titanic, and you definitely won't be humming any Celine Dion tunes as you leave the theater. The supporting work, particularly by Kathy Bates as a chatty Realtor who acts as one of the status quo's many guardians, and Michael Shannon as her institutionalized and lobotomized son who nevertheless sees things far more clearly than the "sane" people (a cliche even when novelist Richard Yates devised him in 1961), is fine, and Mendes' direction, though less flamboyantly "theatrical" than his 3 preceding films (with a couple of notable, carefully-chosen exceptions) makes all the right choices. But will America embrace this the same way it did American Beauty? Doubt it, and not just because it's a period piece (special note to moviegoers born after 1975: in the 1950s it was considered perfectly acceptable for pregnant women to smoke like chimneys and drink like fishes, and nobody objected, not even doctors) but because Lester and Carolyn Burnham really spoke to a great many viewers in Mena Suvari's age range (and in all fairness, struck many others as superficial and obvious, but those individuals are WRONG!) It's more likely that Revolutionary Road will be admired at arm's length than truly loved; more likely than not, a typical response to April's plight will be, "Screw existential frustration; with the economy the way it is right now, she should be damn thankful her husband has a job. ANY job!" While American Beauty accurately painted a picture of many young viewers' parents, it's doubtful that Revolutionary Road, as artfully presented and absorbing as it is, will have much to say to under-25s...OR their folks.… Expand

The people that rated this movie lower than a 8 are probably below 14 years old or are not getting the message here: Relationships Are A Pain! Kate Winslet is definitely of a superior bread of actor.

Drek! Winslett and DiCaprio are not believably cast and their characters have nothing to offer us. People just don't speak to one another,. It is about the fifties, but simply not on this planet. What a wordy turdy movie; in this recession, save your money. How did this garbage even get made??

I like this movie, but if it werent acted by Winslet, Dicaprio and Michael Shannon, it'd be not that good. The message of it is kinda cliche, and i feel asleep on some moments. Anyway , it's a very good movie. Sorry for the bad english :x

Having read the book prior to seeing the movie, I was able to appreciate the magnificent work of director Sam Mendes, musical supervisor Thomas Newman, and fine performances from DiCaprio, Winslet, and particularly, Shannon. While the book is somewhat different, the mood is very captured in the style of Mendes. The definition of insanity is questioned beautifully by the edgy performance of Shannon, who gave the movie an extra jolt. Splendid filmmaking.… Expand

I am in complete agreement with Scott A., in that it makes me FURIOUS when critics say, essentially, "this movie is depressing and therefore not good." Please. Sorry the content bummed you out, but did you happen to notice that this film is completely absorbing, and Kate Winslet's performance is so good that you're stunned over and over again by her talent. I couldn't give this a 10 because Leo's performance is not 100% believable (he really should try to avoid acting opposite Kate Winslet - she dwarfs him, as the Academy has twice noticed).… Expand

A beautiful film! A movie that as of now, will be looked at as an average-to-bad drama, but years from now will be appreciated for its intelligence and its craft. The best film of the year, and one of the best dramas of the decade. Most masterpieces ripen with age. "Revolutionary Road" will be seen the way it should in the next 20 years.

Absolutely shattering. unbelievable performances. best thing mendes and winslet and dicaprio have ever done. Truly.

Without question the worst movie I have seen in years, almost without redeeming features. An unbelievable plot, a hyper-exaggeration of suburban angst, with characterisations lacking in warmth and softness, the perfunctory callous sexual scenes unsizzlingly pornographic - as if all these things were clever or artistic to set out thus. I often like Kate Winslett's performances, in fact as she's a distant cousin I am predisposed to approve, but even that can't elevate this movie to adequacy. If you are contemplating suicide, breakup or mental breakdown, by all means go for it, it will nicely help you on your way; otherwise, do yourself a favour and stay away. How this ever got nominated for awards is amazing to me, a testament perhaps to the "Emperor's New Clothes" effect.… Expand

To see Kate and Leo back on the screen again was great. The movie doesn't linger; it get right to the point in the first few minutes. Kate really shined in this movie and even Leo brought his game. The supporting cast was equally as excellent. A really, really, really intense movie. Lots of yelling, but so convincing.