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Friday, July 31, 2009

BD impressions: Revolutionary Road

12:33 PM / BD Impressions / 2 Comments

Much like the suburban lifestyle it critiques, Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road is slick, polished and very, very conventional. It takes few risks, succeeding largely thanks to fine performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and especially Kate Winslet, who make up for what is ultimately a rather plodding, obvious script by Justin Haythe (whose only previous credit is the 2004 Robert Redford vehicle The Clearing). It trots out the obvious criticisms of suburbia, hammering home the usual "life ain't as pleasant as it looks" clichés with all the subtlety of a blunt trowel, and tossing in that old stalwart, the madman who sees everything more clearly than those who are supposedly sane. The latter, it must be pointed out, leads to some of the best scenes in the film, thanks to Michael Shannon's excellent performance as the aforementioned mental patient. For all that he's a walking, talking stereotype, he's actually the most interesting character in the whole piece, and at times I found myself wishing I was watching a film about him rather than the self-centred couple played by DiCaprio and Winslet, who dream of jetting off "to Europe" to "discover themselves" but never actually do anything about it. Mendes is a fine craftsman, but he did the whole "stifling suburbia" thing a lot better in American Beauty. It's worth seeing for the performances alone, and for the potent recreation of 50s Americana, but it ultimately feels a bit empty.

Image quality: Paramount's BD is a handsome presentation that I assume faithfully reflects the film's intended look, the image being smooth and rich rather than pin-sharp in the manner of something like The International. Close-ups are nicely defined, revealing a wealth of detail in terms of facial features, and the light veneer of grain looks entirely natural and unmolested. (My brother, who saw this at the cinema, remembered the grain being heavier, but that isn't unreasonable when you consider how many generations down the line a theatrical print is, as opposed to the BD, taken from a digital intermediate of the original negative.) Wider shots generally don't look quite so impressive, but I see no reason to expect any foulplay. While Paramount's treatment of catalogue titles often leaves a lot to be desired, their new releases are usually of an extremely high standard, and this one is no exception. 9.5/10

Revolutionary Road
studio: Paramount; country: USA; region code: ABC; codec: AVC;
file size: 28.6 GB; average bit rate (including audio): 34.47 Mbit/sec

2 Comments

 
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