MikeH wrote:Rice Trick wrote:Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Revolutionary Road'ShogunRua wrote:Not only is this an excellent movie, but I would rank DiCaprio's performance as only the third best in the picture, behind Winslet's and Michael Shannon's. In fact, every significant actor in the film (those three plus Kate Hudson) had a strong performance.
I thought they were all excellent performances, but I found the plot just became too predictable. For me that makes it a great nomination -- 3 great performances in an average film (IMHO!)
In terms of the dreams of Winslet's and DiCaprio's respective characters versus reality, it's supposed to be predictable. It's based on a Richard Yates novel about how American provincials delude one another and themselves with grand dreams of daring, while becoming more and more mired in their provincialism. I felt this was made very clear in the film adaptation.
But in terms of the actual ending to all that, I would be highly impressed if you predicted [spoiler]Winslet's death through childbirth and DiCaprio's stoic fate[/spoiler].
Anyways, this is the first I have ever heard of someone calling Revolutionary Road a bad film, or DiCaprio supposedly outshining Winslet, Shannon, and even Bates by that much. Keep in mind that Winslet won a Golden Globe for her performance and Shannon was nominated for an Oscar.
I don't mind unconventional opinions, as I have many myself, but they're only interesting if backed with reasons. When it's just "his performance was the only one that stuck out for me (re-stating the thesis, not providing any new information about it), I don't remember much else" they don't mean much.