Movie of the Week – Revolutionary Road

This week’s movie: Revolutionary Road (2008).

Frank and April Wheeler have the life they thought they always wanted – a beautiful family, a nice suburban home, and a good job in the city. But each feels lost, the abyss of mundane life has swallowed them up. They desperately need a change. This story takes place in 1950s Connecticut.

Director Sam Mendes made what is probably his best film to date with Revolutionary Road. It is a scouring look at the myth of the 1950s’ ideal American family. Mendes is one of the great directors working today to come out of theatre – his other notably films include: American Beauty, Road to Perdition, and Skyfall. Mendes worked with a brilliant group of technicians on the film. Thomas Newman provides a strong score, while Roger Deakins delivers his patented wonderful photography (both are frequent collaborators of Mendes). Kristi Zea’s production designer is good as well.

The film stars Kate Winslet (who was Mendes’s wife at the time) and Leonardo DiCaprio each giving one of their career best performances. The film marks their on-screen reunion following Titanic. David Harbour, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn, Zoe Kazan, Dylan Baker, and Michael Shannon (who is also electric) feature in support. Revolutionary Road is quietly one of the best acted films of the last decade, and yet only saw one Oscar nomination for acting (for Shannon, who lost to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, who gave maybe the best performance of the decade; meanwhile Winslet was nominated and won that year for The Reader, but I would argue that she is even better in this).

Revolutionary Road is emotionally draining and deeply affecting, but it is also a must-see for fans of brilliantly directed and acted dramas.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Video On-Demand

Carnage (2011) – Review

Review: Carnage is a claustrophobic comedy. Based on the play Le Dieu du Carnage, the film is about two sets of parents that amicably meet to discuss an incident involving their sons – it degrades quickly. Director Roman Polanski affects the viewer with his choices in this film that essentially takes place completely in one room, creating a piece that frustrates, causes anxiety and even gets on the nerves of its viewer yet is at the same time hilarious. It is a dangerous game Polanski plays with his audience – one that is not going to work for everyone, as I can see someone hating this as easily as loving it. The main culprit is that Polanski has the Cowans almost leave a number of times, but they just keep getting dragged back in, seemingly worsening the conflict each time (why can’t they just get out of there?!?). Polanski has it boil over then dissipate only to froth up again. However, the characters are fantastic (and played very well). Those that will ultimately like this film will be the viewers that take the characters at face value and just enjoy them. Most comedies these days play off juvenile circumstances or characters, but this is different (at least initially). Polanski presents adult characters – only to be reduced to seemingly juveniles by cracking under the pressures of societal norms. In a way, Polanski is saying that we are all children at heart (or baser animals once society is stripped away) and the brilliance of this film is watching these characters, all very much rooted in adult society, crumble giving into their emotions and agendas. Issues with the film mainly arise from the way the film interacts with its viewer – not all audience members will want to be emotionally engaged to the extent that Polanski intends. The ending seems a bit abrupt as well – but it does work with the epilogue, however. Carnage is very funny, but is much more than just a comedy as it deconstructs modern society.

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Roman Polanski has made many great films, but I cannot think of another comedy. He makes the argument that the best directors can make a great film in any genre, and Polanski is certainly one of the best. I do not remember much music during the meat of the film, but the prologue has a great piece written by Alexandre Desplat (who scored the film). Pawel Edelman (who shoots all Polanski’s films, recently) does fantastic work, especially working with Polanski to block and frame each scene. This is the best aesthetic aspect of the film. While the characters are mostly trapped in one room, Polanski still has them constantly moving, keeping a kinetic energy going which keeps it from feeling dull. The production design by Dean Tavoularis is also very good. The Longstreet apartment is very telling in many ways. Ultimately, however, this is a film that lives or dies with the performances of its actors (there being only four main characters), and they are all on their games. Jodie Foster is so on edge during the whole film; the audience is just waiting for her to explode. Kate Winslet has probably the most rage to cover with Nancy Cowan – and as always she is fantastic. The juxtaposition of her early in the film to later on is a lot of fun. Christoph Waltz plays Alan Cowan as if he is the only important thing in the world, commanding the room. John C. Reilly (probably the least acclaimed of the group) steals much of the film however, as this being a comedy it is right in his wheelhouse. His bursts into juvenility are particularly funny.

Summary & score: Carnage is one of the best comedies of 2011. The audience and characters are trapped in a room, and cannot seem to escape. 8/10

Contagion (2011) – Review

Review: Contagion is a really well made film both from an aesthetic and storytelling standpoint, as it seems to be grounded (more so than many films, especially studio films in this genre) in reality. Events evolve and play out how they probably would, given such an outbreak of a deadly disease did occur (stipulated to the same factors as in the film). It is this realism that makes the film work as well as it does. The narrative structure that director Steven Soderbergh employs sees the narrative jump around the world between multiple characters – giving a broad more global sense of what is going on. The cost of this decision is that the film does not feel like a thriller in the truest sense (at least not all the time), and this is due to there being many characters that the audience only briefly gets to know – the last of connection lessens the stakes. Mitch Emhoff might be an exception, and the scenes involving him and later his daughter have the most emotional impact and thus work the best in a thriller-like capacity. However, while Soderbergh does forgo a strong emotional connection with the audience (though, Emhoff’s character is used well as a narrative throughline, and a good touchstone for the audience’s emotions), he is aware that the story and the narrative style in which he unfolds the film is enough to engage the audience (and he is right). It also helps that the ensemble cast gives great performances (and all feel real and fleshed out to the extent their limited screen time will allow). Contagion thusly works better as a drama than a thriller; however the thrilling aspect of it is in the sheer devolution that the planet faces and encounters in the wake of the outbreak, as it grows, which is greatly helped by the realism Soderbergh uses. I would even argue that the narrative that Soderbergh retains is even more compelling than if he had stayed solely with the Emhoff character (which probably would have been a more thrilling film – a bit like 28 Days Later…, but without zombies – sort of, I mean those infected are sort of like zombies in a sense). As it is, Soderbergh can show the audience the drama of such an epidemic on a much grander and scarier scale (though, again, impersonal), and having the film so rooted in reality makes it all the more frightening, on a much more intellectual level than most disaster films (which this could be classified as). The narrative is more about will humanity survive than just one character (but, as stated above, we do get to see how one family copes with the drama of what is happening to the world, because to some degree we do need that connection to a character). True thriller or not, Contagion is a very good disaster drama, that surprisingly, given the genre, feels genuine.

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Steven Soderbergh can probably be classified as an auteur director, due to his style and quality as a filmmaker. Though his background is in indie film, his best work seems to come from the films he makes in Hollywood (Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, and Contagion – which is probably my favorite of his films). He also produced and shot the film, and his cinematography has never been better (and at times reminded me of the work he did on Traffic – especially when the setting was Mexico). However, the production design by Howard Cummings and the fantastic score by Cliff Martinez really solidify the world of Soderbergh’s drama. With things like 28 Days Later… and The Walking Dead as reference (the film looked and sort of had the same tone as a zombie film, maybe that is why I keep coming back to them as references), Cummings is able to both stay in line with what the audience expects the world would look like in complete disarray, but also gives the film its own unique sense of realism that fits the narrative perfectly. Martinez’s score (sample here) sets the tone really well (again getting back to zombie movies, it sort of reminded me of a toned-down, more dramatic Hans Zimmer-like version of Marilyn Manson’s Resident Evil score at times, sample here versus Contagion here, with a great use of tribal drums). I liked it a lot. The cast is also very good, many with limited character work. Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard (who is fantastic with almost no screen time), Jennifer Ehle (who gives possibly a film-breakthrough performance for her career), and newcomer Anna Jacoby-Heron are great in support. Kate Winselt is wonderful and tragic in her supporting role, and Matt Damon is good as always in the lead (in a character that fits right in his dramatic wheelhouse).

Summary & score: Contagion is a disaster thriller that is more frightening than thrilling, as it play much more as a drama. Regardless, however, it is very compelling. 8/10