Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Book & Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

I recently read Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road and then rented the movie. The verdict...depressing, on both counts. In fact, a gray cloud literally hung over my head for a week after reading the book. And when I finally had the courage to rent the movie, the woman at Blockbuster tried to convince me not to because of how depressing it was. While I appreciated her advice, I completely ignored it and rented it anyway, determined to see for myself.

Not to sound cliche or like some sort of literary critic, but the movie wasn't nearly as good as the book. It wasn't nearly as depressing either, which was a major failure on its part because it's supposed to be depressing. I was also disappointed by the lack of on-screen chemistry from Leo and Kate. I mean, I bawled my eyes out at Titanic, but they didn't manage to pry even an ounce of emotion out of me in Revolutionary Road. Needless to say, when I returned the movie to Blockbuster, I warned the woman not to read the book. If she thought the movie was depressing...the book might actually push her over the edge.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea; the book was actually quite good. Richard Yates did a brilliant job capturing the characters' conflicts and his descriptions were so vivid you could practically taste each scene. If you're considering the book or the movie...go for the book, you'll get so much more out of it.

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