REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

In 1961, Richard Yates’ novel Revolutionary Road stunned and challenged audiences. The film adaptation, released almost 50 years later, runs the risk of being deemed ‘irrelevant’ in a contemporary setting. Fortunately, this is a huge underestimation of the vast power of this story, which Kurt Vonnegut called ‘the Great Gatsby of my time’. The period in which Revolutionary Road is set ‘ 1950s suburban America ‘ is perfectly stylised in this film, so that it effectively operates on both a symbolic and literal level. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, as Frank and April Wheeler, similarly float between 1950s gender stereotypes and individuals struggling with their circumstances and ideas. Revolutionary Road is brilliant: full of the emotion and poignant uncertainty that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button lacked. (Trish Roberts)