Revolutionary Road

Morose and forlorn – but outstanding nonetheless!

Frank and April once dreamed of a life singularly free, unique and pleasurable. Still, their life course led them inevitable to a little house in the suburb, raising their children... and pretending to be living happily-ever-after. Now, all their pretense is threatening to crush them. Conformity has robbed them of their once brilliant creativity, stolen their freedom and killed their spirit. But, there is hope, an opportunity to restore all they’ve lost – if only they can get to Paris before the rules of society make yet more demands.

Weakly written and unevenly directed, this film’s strength is in it’s brilliant performances!

B / PG2

Starring: Kate Winslet; Leonardo DiCaprio; and, Kathy Bates
Featuring: Michael Shannon; Kathryn Hahn; David Harbour; and, Jay O. Sanders
With: Richard Easton; Dylan Baker; Zoe Kazan; and, Max Casella
Writer: Justin Haythe [from the book by Richard Yates]

Reel Review by Josef

The Day The Earth Stood Still

An improvement over the original.

An object approaching Earth at an incredible speed has humankind preparing for devastation. It doesn’t crash but it does land, in Central Park; now, humankind is preparing for invasion. Humankind is met with it’s first extra-terrestrial species. They are not afraid of us. And, we have no force, no technology, to keep them from completing their agenda. Faced with annihilation, is there any hope for survival?

This story could have gone one of three ways. One way would have been an excellent story, another would have been great. Here we have the easy way out. Still, excellent performances save this film from complete apathy. Jaden Smith’s performance is exceptional!

C / PG2

Starring: Keanu Reeves; Jennifer Connelly; and, Jaden Smith.
Featuring: Kathy Bates and Kyle Chandler
Director: Scott Derrickson
Writers: Ryne Douglas Pearson and David Scarpa

Reel Review by Josef