Revolutionary Road

I’m shocked. Oscar nominations were announced but neither Kate nor Leo got a nod for Revolutionary Road. I’m seriously shocked. Last weekend Cheryl and I made a last minute decision to see a movie and ended up unexpectedly bumping into my writing partner, Don, and his wife, Michelle at Revolutionary Road. I caught myself saying “Wow!” over and over during the many intense and terrifically vulnerable scenes. After, I wanted to savor every moment.

Revolutionary Road is about a couple (Frank & April) who lost hope in their dreams of an extraordinary life in the midst of struggling with their seemingly ordinary life. The disconnection from their life’s purpose caused extreme tension between them. They had vicious fights.

After one huge fight, April finds an old photo of Frank in Paris. She remembers how talking about Paris ignited his passion for life. So she gets an idea to move the family to Paris, she’ll work as a secretary, while Frank spends time connecting with his life’s purpose. That night when she reveals this plan to him is the first time we see their two children. April and Frank connect joyfully with each other like never before, despite the fact that Frank had just had sex with a secretary that day.

The hope of pursuing the extraordinary life they thought was long gone brings life, and life is symbolized by the presence of the children. As long as they are pursuing their dreams the children are in the movie. But as soon as their hope starts to fade…the children are no longer in the movie. They are mentioned but never seen for the rest of the movie.

Just as the children represent life to the full, truth is represented by a crazy person. It had to be a crazy person who spoke the truth. A “sane” person cares too much about logic and feelings. And a person who speaks or acts on truth unapologetically is generally perceived as crazy by whoever is unwilling to see it for what it is. John the Baptist is a classic example. I noticed the tension in the theater during the most intense truth telling scene. The tension was louder than the giggles of my friends and me. Only a couple other people were laughing during that scene, and I suspect they were just as comfortable with truth as we were. The rest were uncomfortably still.

Later, Don told me he wanted to suggest we all go next door to Sitwell’s to discuss. But we all had reasons to go our separate ways, which left us each without words to express.