comment #1

rgmax99 says ...

Heading to NYC on Christmas Day, and this is first on my list to see.

Already purchased tix for the afternoon showing of the Che: Roadshow Edition for Dec 29 at the IFC, as well.

Looking forward!!!

comment #2

George Prager says ...

I just saw it again and the thing that bothered me was the buttons on Leonardo's shirts. So obvious that they are made from plastic, not the celluloid that was used for most commercially made buttons in the 50s and 60s. So much for historical accuracy...anyway. I agree with Wells 100%. David Denby's review was particularly lame. Within a week he'll be contradicting himself.

In other news...HIckenlooper's brother for US Senate?
http://www.swingstateproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4182

This would be awesome.

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

I thought this Hickenlooper was his cousin, but even so I know of him a bit from family in Denver, sounds awesome.

comment #4

Phatang! says ...

It's so difficult to try and argue why you think an actor (or a performance) is bad. I think DiCaprio is completely unconvincing in Revolutionary Road. There's no authenticity. There's also nothing compelling about him, no charisma to make the subject matter more palatable. But it's hard to be much more specific about why I feel that way without thinking "no, that's not really it..."

comment #5

Gordie Lachance says ...

Frank Wheeler speaks in cliches because he loathes everyone around him and is patronizing towards them.

Mrs. Givings says things like "Look at the sun! Maybe we'll see a rainbow!' to change the subject whenever anyone mentions something uncomfortable.

April falls back on "Can we just not talk about this?" to avoid things and Mr. Givings pretends he's deaf for the same reason.

The only honest person in the movie is the loony son.

comment #6

Kim Voynar says ...

Jeff, I wrote about this at length in my column on the adaptation of Rev Road this week, but briefly, the biggest issue I had with the film wasn't the acting, it was the screenplay. When people talk about the film feeling unemotional or lacking heart, I think this is where it's coming from. The film tries to be about a marriage, whereas the book, while it's also about the marriage, is much more about the manipulation beneath the surface of Frank and April's relationhip. Most of the book is told from Frank's POV, and it's much darker in tone and much more clear in the ways in which he both manipulates situations within their marriage and lives in a bubble of fear of being exposed as not being the "great man" he thinks he is. It's also much more explicit how April is caught up in the disappointment of Frank not being all that she thinks he could be, and her awareness of how he's shuffled the responsiblity for that onto her and their kids.

I held off writing about Rev Road for a couple weeks after seeing it, because I wanted to really let it soak in so I could figure out what exactly bugged me about it. DiCaprio and Winslet were solid, but it felt very much to me that they were trying to convey more of the characters as drawn in the book than they had to work with in the screenplay.

comment #7

Hickenlooper says ...

John is my cousin though we are very close like brothers. I recently shot a documentary series about him during the Democratic National Convention which will be airing sometime in the late Spring. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see what his decision will be. I spoke to him yesterday and encourage him to take his progressive agenda to the national level. John is a brilliant bipartisan leader and one of the reasons I have swung back left of center. On a completely different subject, I usually love Sam Mendes' work. He has a brilliant eye, however, the screenplay for Revolutionary Road somehow felt like a parody to an episode of MAD MEN. Watching the film reminded me of reading a short story written by a smart high school junior who was discovering suburban angst for the first time. It was very disappointing considering the level of talent.

comment #8

perceptions says ...

WTF ?

"HFPA have greater concerns or there would be more awards love for Revolutionary Road than just that Golden Globe Best Actress nom for Kate Winslet's performance. "

The film, Mendes, Leo and Kate were ALL nominated for Golden Globes

Saw it , and looking forward to seeing it again.

comment #9

Gordie Lachance says ...

I just read the screenplay. Makes me almost not want to see the movie now.

Is it possible for a 300 page novel to be 10 times denser than a 100 page screenplay?

It's a fingernail sketch of the book. All the dramatic stuff is there, the fights, the awkward party patter.... but none of the soul.

April and Franks discussion about moving to Paris, the very core of the book, is reduced to a single page.

"Want to go to Paris?"
"Ok."
"Great."

None of the best of the book, Frank's inability to relate to anyone, not even his kids, the whole subplot with his secretary, all the funny little details, gone......ugh. I know there are time constraints, but it's like the screenwriter just copy-pasted the main dramatic scenes.

Hickenlooper's complaints are valid, I'm afraid. It's a shame. You should all just read the book. It (still) is a knockout.

comment #10

Edward Havens says ...

Four times, eh Wells? You must really love misery.

comment #11

Kim Voynar says ...

Gordie,

Exactly my point. The main plots points are there, the basic story structure is there, but the heart and soul just are not. Frank was such a complexly layered, contridicatory character in the book, and he's just not in the film. I'm re-reading the book again now to catch its further nuances. It's depressing as hell, but love it.

comment #12

janee says ...

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