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The film at large is respectably detached and impressively subtle. It's hard to affix blame or understand exactly who or what causes the film's events to unfold. At times it seems like these characters might have had a happy marriage. They both seem to share the same dream—of living off the grid of the predictable, technocratic American life. "Who made these rules?" April wonders—these rules of realistic, practical, conventional living that keeps them locked up like a prison? "All I know," says Frank, "is that I want to feel things. Really feel them." They are dreamers, optimistic people. But they are ultimately unable to break free, and in the end they fall victim to the very system that ensnares them. Or maybe their just victims of their own poor decisions—being unfaithful to one another, for starters. Either way, it's a tragedy. And it's not easy to watch.

Frank and April, trying to figure out life

There is a definite sense in which the Wheelers are merely stand-ins for the larger community: that of Revolutionary Road, and that of suburban, post-war America. Other characters and couples in the film (including a fantastic Kathy Bates) seem equally unhappy, equally in despair and denial—just perhaps more capable of hiding it. If that is the case, it's uncertain exactly what Mendes wants us to take away from Road. If the Wheelers are not an anomaly, but the norm, are we to assume that life was just all in all horrible back then? Is it that way today? Are happy, loving, honest marriages ever possible?

This is where Revolutionary Road's ambiguity holds it back. There is too little to take home after seeing this movie, except for a general feeling of having one's wind knocked out. If anything, it illustrates that we should not approach any relationship with a prescribed or scientific sense of expectation. One of the most memorable scenes of the film shows Frank in his office late one night, recording this voice note for his job: "Knowing what you've got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can live without—that's inventory control." It's a line that is obviously meant to represent much more than just practical business advice. It's a way of looking at the world, at morality, at love. And by the end of Revolutionary Road, we know one thing for certain: there has got to be a better way.

Talk About It

1. What is the cause of the Wheelers' marital strife? Would things have been better had they gone to Paris?
   
   
2. Does anyone in the film seem genuinely happy? If so, how are they different from those who are unhappy?
   
   
3. How do you interpret the film's final event? Was it accidental? Intentional? Who is to blame?
   
   

The Family Corner

Revolutionary Road is rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity. It's a very adult-oriented theme, with plenty of hateful and profane language, several scenes of infidelity and sex (with no nudity except for very brief shot of a topless female), and a disturbing scene of a self-induced abortion.

Photos © Copyright Overture Pictures

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