Kate and Leo light up the screen again

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Movie details

A young couple living in Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates

Our review
If seeing Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio teaming up on the big screen for the first time since "Titanic" won't entice you to see this film, the profound and compelling story about the complexities of human relationships will.

Based on the novel by Richard Yates, "Revolutionary Road" centers on April (Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (DiCaprio), a young married couple struggling to come to terms with the fact they have become the one thing they never wanted to be: a good man with a job he hates and an unhappy suburban housewife.

Like any couple, fiery April and charismatic Frank begin their relationship with the exhilarating fervor of youthful ideals and the certainty they will avoid the trappings of marriage or conformity.

However when fate leads them exactly to the point they feared, April proposes that she and Frank leave the security of suburban Connecticut and move their family away to Paris to start a new life, live out their dreams and save their dying marriage.

While Frank initially agrees to the move, it doesn't take long before friends and co-workers plant the seeds of doubt in his mind. Can he throw away what many would call the American dream - secure job, a wife, two kids and a home - for a radical move to Paris?

Directed by Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road" shares the pace of his previously acclaimed films "American Beauty" and "Road to Perdition". While the film can be slow at times, the intensity of its two lead characters and the undeniable on screen chemistry between Kate and Leo is enough to keep you engrossed.

Although set in the 1950s, it is easy to identify with the characters and the tender and turbulent moments of their relationship. For anyone who has ever questioned just how much they are willing to conform and compromise themselves for a relationship, "Revolutionary Road" is an eye-opener.