Revolutionary road

Sam Mendes rides again! Ten years after American Beauty the British director returns to poke yet more holes in the suburban nightmare that is the American dream. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio play a couple who are married, have two kids, live in a well-to-do neighbourhood and are desperately unhappy with life. DiCaprio works in a dead-end job while Winslet maintains the household; each wants out, and so they agree to relocate to Paris to chase a youthful dream of excitement and freedom. The fates conspire against them though, and I wasn't really that surprised when the film ended with the dream unfulfilled.

There are a lot of really good and really bad things about this film. Superb acting by the two leads carries the whole movie. There's a spectacularly emotional scene where they have a huge row – wonderfully acted. The less emotional stuff is just as good, Winslet carries off some great facial tics while playing the part of the wife trying ever so hard to appear happy. That's what great film acting is all about – attention to detail.

The subject of the film is really interesting too, but it's also in this regard that I felt the story-telling to be somewhat heavy-handed. So they're a couple in crisis, do we really need them to stand there in their kitchen and tell us that they're in crisis? There are hidden truths in their marriage, do we really need a character to be introduced who has a mental condition preventing from using tact? He then wanders around the set explaining the plot. Honestly, that's one of the lamest plot devices I've ever witnessed. I rather feel that the director should have had more confidence in his own ability to tell a story – ham-fisted plot crowbars are not needed Sam!

It's all about Winslet and DiCaprio though. I've never seen Titanic – but I understand that there was a whole excitement about this pair being re-united for Revolutionary Road. They certainly appear to have a chemistry of some sort, plenty enough to carry the story despite any unfortunate plot Macuffins. I kind of think that Winslet should have won the Oscar for this instead, since even though The Reader is a better film she's hardly been better than she is here. And she looks great in all those 1950s dresses too!

I'm still not going to watch Titanic though.