April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job, and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.
Unlike most movies, Revolutionary Road was shot entirely in sequence.
At the time of filming, Kate Winslet was married to director Sam Mendes. This is their first collaboration. While Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were filming love scenes, Mendes opted to watch on a monitor from another room.
This is the first time Winslet and DiCaprio have reunited since Titanic in 1997.
Frank and April's children are played by real-life siblings, Ryan and Ty Simpkins.
The film rights for Revolutionary Road were bought back in 1967, when producer Elliott Kastner first planned to adapt the novel for the big screen.
Revolutionary Road goes to prove that you don't necessarily need a massively complicated plot to make a great movie. The premise is simple and one which really a lot of middle-aged married couples can identify with. Frank and April meet and fall in love; both are young, full of dreams and hopeful for the future. Particularly Frank, who seems to be dreaming big.
As their relationship progresses, April falls pregnant with one child, and then another and of course, with parenting comes great responsibility. Frank finds himself stuck in a dull job, working to keep a roof over his family's head while April takes care of the children. Slowly they begin to drift apart and the resentment begins to build as they realize this is it now, this is the life they've made, the path they've chosen.
Given the era the movie is set, 1959, it was a lot harder back then to make dramatic changes or to walk away. Of course, it's also a question of whether they would want to walk away from their marriage too. Just because you might not be happy with your life, doesn't mean you're not happy with the person you're sharing it with...
Revolutionary Road prompts a lot of thoughts and emotions and really leaves you drained at the end of it. It's a fine piece of art and a stunning example of how wonderful Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are on screen together.