Revolutionary Road (2008, Sam Mendes)

Richard Yates' much lauded first novel Revolutionary Road was and still remains a powerful read; charting the failure of the American dream, post-war insecurities, and the inevitability of loneliness all around the relationship of one young suburban couple. Yates' first triumph still speaks volumes about the human need to conform despite the diminishing effects upon the soul, however this adaptation feels all too flat and lifeless. Despite the strong revered source material, Sam Mendes' film feels more like an echo of themes we've seen before and better, telling us nothing new and coming off as rather an unnecessary exercise.

The drama centres around Frank and April Wheeler as they settle into their new life in the suburbs. Upon their first meet at a party, April announces her dreams to become an actress whereas Frank admits he is still searching for his calling. They have two children, a beautiful house, both of which are looked after by April as Frank works. Frank is unhappy in his job at the same company his dad worked for, a company Frank swore he'd never work for as a child, though vowing never to follow his dad's footsteps he's done exactly that.  The Wheeler's see themselves as outsiders to their suburban neighbours, they feel superior over the others as they feel they don't belong in that lifeless environment. April decides the best way for them to leave their rut would be to move to Paris, for her to take on a secretarial position and support the family while Frank 'finds himself'. Frank needs convincing but is eventually seduced by the idea, but will the Wheelers escape their hollow lives on the idealistic Revolutionary Road and make it across the shores to gay Paris? With three cast members reunited for the first time since Titanic (1997) it doesn't seem likely.

Revolutionary Road sees Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio on top form and possibly never better as the Wheelers. Despite the supporting characters not being clearly defined enough to form a counter distinction between their views of contentiousness with suburbia along side the Wheeler's distain for it, there isn't a dud performance in sight. Michael Shannon as John Givings; the recently released mental patient son of Mrs. Givings (Kathy Bates) quite literally steals the show in the few scenes he has. On screen John works as a not so subtle mechanism in the story to speak the unspeakable and get things moving amongst Frank and April as they weaver between their new life and their current one. John could have been a jarring and awkward presence if cast wrong but Shannon elevates this minor (but important) character bringing life to every frame he dominates. He represents the voice of the repressed, he sees everything for what it is and isn't afraid to speak out even at the cost of offending. He is disgusted by his mother's dull way of living as well as the Wheelers' and becomes the voice of reason they lack the courage to hear. John Givings is the most memorable part of Revolutionary Road which only highlights the films lack elsewhere.

With a weak bunch of poorly realised supporting characters we're given little to no juxtaposition in a story that clearly needs it. The film's structure is also a problem as we get only the slightest glimpse of a life before suburban angst sets in on Frank and April, again if we were allowed access into the happier if not alternate lifestyle before their marriage and move we'd get some more of that much needed juxtaposition. Instead we're more or less thrown into the centre of an unhappy marriage filled with disillusionment form the outset, it's easy to identify with the despair but not easy to bond with the couple making the whole film a rather jaded and cynical affair.

It must be said that the film deals with the big picture of societal problems and so isn't fixated on well drawn character studies, though this isn't an excuse that will stick. With filmmaker's such as David Lynch (Blue Velvet), Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) and even Mendes himself (American Beauty) covering this suburban nightmare before and with better results, Revolutionary Road needed something to set itself a part and to offer something more than this. It merely ends up as a footnote compared to previous examples.

As said before the performances are wholly impressive and often powerful, especially when Frank and April really go for each other's throats. Sam Mendes shows his flair for composition and for creating a fitting atmosphere, this time accompanied by master cinematographer Roger Deakins and composer Thomas Newman once again. Each shot is flawless, with each frame holding interest and textures to marvel at. Deakins could very well be the best working in his field today. Newman graces us with his usual minimalist nuanced piano which is affecting without drawing attention though it can also feel recycled at times.

All in all Revolutionary Road is a fine stand alone film despite some weak developments in vital areas. With filmmakers of this level bringing a book of Yates' stature to the screen, the results were never going to be completely without merit. It just appears that this particular adaptation came a little too late to flourish in all its worth.

For fans of: American Beauty (1999), Far From Heaven (2002), Little Children (2006)

Contagion (2011, Steven Soderbergh)

In Contagion, the popular disaster movie genre is brought back in an unashamedly unpretentious fashion by director Steven Soderbergh. Armed as usual with an army of A-list names, Soderbergh's B-movie reinvigorates rather than reinvents the tried and tested story of a worldwide epidemic. Its message is a simple one and one we've heard before, but the film succeeds by taking its time and never forgetting (even for a moment) what it sets out to do - making it a low-grabbing success. But is this enough? 


Starting the proceedings is Gwyneth Paltrow talking to, presumably, an ex-boyfriend on her mobile at an airport. She doesn't look her usual stunning self and soon enough we'll find out why. "Day 2" appears on the screen and before long we're following other random people around the world who are clearly disintegrating. The constant barrage of shots showing the germs spreading from person to person is a horrific reminder of how linked we all are, and the unknowing contact we maintain with each other everyday. As the days go on this mystery illness spreads at an alarming rate and it's not long before panic starts manifesting within the general public. This is where Contagion harbours most of its strength; an hour into the film, as the fear starts to grow, the fear mirrors the disease in the extreme rate it multiplies and changes its host for the worst. As the government control the release of information and advice to manipulate the world's emotions, fear becomes not only a weapon and a tool, but a spreading virus. 

These points of insight don't sound very deep, frankly they're not at all, nor is the film trying to act on a higher plain of IQ. Contagion's simplicity however isn't where its weaknesses lie; for a film that boasts an ever ending list of talented performers, it just doesn't have anything for them to do. As the multiple narratives plod on and never once converge, by the end these various stories have barely moved on or had the slightest breath of life pumped through them. 


Soderbergh regular Matt Damon gets the best deal of the bunch as a father who's lost his wife and step son, he and his remaining daughter do their best to survive and do it rather well, the risk is never high enough to care. Marion Cotillard doesn't have much to say or do whilst on screen, but then her epidemiologist character disappears for a painful amount of time following a rather weak kidnapping plot. Kate Winslet suffers the same fate as the others, we don't get to know them so we don't invest, the characters in Contagion are interchangeable to a point. 


The one character who does gets enough time to shine is Jude Law, who although having the most annoying character in the film at least has a personality to feel something for. His battle with the government and health department over their cerebral controlling of information is about as interesting as it gets, with the internet being shown as the future weapon of revealing corruption in high echelons. The internet is a powerful weapon to the common man, but can still be used for better or for worse.

The soundtrack provided by Cliff Martinez provides the perfect apocalyptic soundscape needed whilst giving Soderbergh enough snare to show off his precision editing, and the direction is as economic and unfussy as we've come to expect from such a prolific filmmaker.


Contagion has a simple and direct message that could have ended up feeling more like a public health announcement, but it manages to deliver this well, if at a cost. The script is so bland that even the Hollywood dream team can't raise it up a notch, and while we can forgive it for not saying anything new or profoundly interesting, some thrills would have been nice despite the relatively refreshing show of restraint.

Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2012)

The king of claustrophobia Roman Polanski is back as he plunges us into the middle of a class war between two sets of parents brought together through a school yard brawl. Yasmina Reza's adapted play (Originally titled Gods of Carnage) breaks down the social constructs, cliches, and lies that all too often form our perception of what adult life should be. It succeeds on this level but feels like it should have more weight, somethings lacking, it needs more bite.

In a breezy upbeat title sequence the credits are displayed over a gang of kids in a New York playground. When the titles cease, one boy armed with a stick strikes another boy in the face dropping him to the ground. Cut to the next scene and we're in the home of Michael and Penelope Longstreet (John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster), it was their boy who was attacked and so they've invited the attacking boy's parents round to discuss the matter like adults should. Alan and Nancy Cowan are played by Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet, Alan is an attorney defending an unfortunate drug and Nancy is a stock broker whereas Penelope is a writer on African culture and Michael a hardware salesman. Is any of this information important? It probably shouldn't be but we'll let the four of them decide that.

Once we're dropped into the Longstreet residence it soon becomes clear that we're not going to leave for some time. What follows is an unsettling 80minutes of increasing pandemonium and tension that the infamous director of Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby has no problem in creating. Alan and Nancy make it into the outside hallway several times but always seem destined for them to re-enter the apartment of a couple they've just met and frankly don't like. The film's satiric themes and claustrophobic setting strikes a huge comparison with Luis Bunuel's The Exterminating Angel (1962), a film that viciously (in typical Bunuelian cynicism) takes apart the facade of high social standing among the bourgeois and the Catholic church by forcing them to stay in the same room, no one knows why but they just can't leave, thus after some time we see them for what they really are - immoral selfish animals no different from the rest.

What at first starts out as a conversation of manners and hidden digs soon evolves into something more honest and unashamedly offensive. By the end we see them drunk (thanks to the introduction of Michael's 18 year old Scotch), very unhappy, and acting like petulant infants criticising each other's line of work, taking the moral high-ground over each other wherever possible, and vomiting over priceless pieces of literature.

The script is tight, the pacing is brisk and to the point. Christoph Waltz makes the film with his unapologetic smugness and his constant interrupting of matters due to his work phone, John C. Reilly is a pleasure to watch as usual and his trademark man-child like persona is suitably fitting here. In one of the revealing moments his character shouts that Penelope had dressed him up as a Republican just for their meeting when he's really a "short tempered son of a bitch" and goes straight to the drinks cabinet. Kate Winslet is by no means unimpressive here but given her stellar career thus far it can't be helped but feel role of Nancy is slightly below her, and Jodie Foster despite starting well does grate slightly when the overacting kicks in.

Carnage never hits the heights it could have, never leaving a level of comfort that would make for a more thrilling 80minutes thus losing its teeth much like the Longstreet's son. It plays well and is very entertaining with some interesting insights but it never gets lost down in the murkiness of its subject matter, we're left wanting more carnage than what's on offer.

Unlike the great Bunuel, Carnage doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth afterwards because it just isn't spiteful or revealing enough. Michael, Penelope, Alan, and Nancy seem destined to fight it out even though they really could leave at any time, perhaps their reason for not doing so stems back to the film's simple message - that we are all children; we never really grow up and mature we simply just become more complicated and disillusioned. The final shot shows the boys making it up and playing together in the end, oh how simple it once was to be a child. Children can be unkind, they can be cruel, but they have an honesty that gets lost as age sets in. We see four adults attempting to 'do the right thing' but as the final image reveals, perhaps their children did a better job without the hassle. A simple sorry was all it took and if this is the case then the film begs the question - why do us adults make everything so tragically complicated?

For fans of:

Rope (1948), The Exterminating Angel (1962), The Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie (1972)