Sunday, March 29, 2009

Kate Winslet - and Two Movies

The Guy and I both admire Kate Winslet, and we were keen on catching The Reader and Revolutionary Road. We watched The Reader a week ago, and while it definitely was interesting, it seemed to fall short in parts. The best part of the movie was, of course, Winslet herself.

Then we watched Revolutionary Road on Friday. It was mind-blowing. I didn't have very high expectations from the movie - I was afraid it would be superficial. But the writing was incisive, the characters were well fleshed out, and the performances were exquisite. April Wheeler is the one woman I've ever seen on screen whom I could most relate to. Leonardo DiCaprio is good as the "average nice guy", but Ms Winslet steals the show. 

It's also a feminist movie, with the stifling bonds of marriage, homemaking and maternity dealt with starkly. (Warning: don't watch it if you're not a feminist.) As I said to the Guy, it's not the kind of movie most people would like - but it seemed to be made for us. I felt the ending was a bit of a letdown, by being melodramatic in contrast to the subtlety of the rest of it, but I still like it more than any other movie I've ever seen. Everything else seems trite in comparison. (Oh, the Guy wants me to put it on record that he loved it too.)

And it's directed by Kate Winslet's husband. Really, it seems unfair that a couple should have so much talent between them. 

1 comment:

Nilesh said...

This was probably the best amongst all the movies I have seen. The content look on April's face after aborting her baby was special.

Glad I watched the movie, want to read the book now!