Revolutionary Road (film)
Encyclopedia
Revolutionary Road is a 2008 American drama film
directed by Sam Mendes
, from screenplay by Justin Haythe
, starring Leonardo DiCaprio
and Kate Winslet
. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same name
by Richard Yates
.
The film opened in limited release on December 26, 2008, and expanded wide on January 23, 2009. It was the first film in which DiCaprio and Winslet have co-starred since the 1997 film Titanic
. It also included Titanic co-star Kathy Bates
.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards
: Best Art Direction
, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor
(Michael Shannon
).
) meets April (Kate Winslet
) at a party. He is a longshoreman, hoping to be a cashier
; she wants to be an actress. Frank later secures a sales position with the same company at which his father worked and he and April marry. In 1955, the Wheelers move to 115 Revolutionary Road in suburban Connecticut
when April becomes pregnant. Frank and April settle into the normality of suburban life while raising their children, Michael and Jennifer.
The couple become close friends with their realtor Helen Givings (Kathy Bates
) and her husband Howard, and neighbor Milly Campbell (Kathryn Hahn
) and her husband Shep (David Harbour
). To their friends the Wheelers are the perfect couple, but their relationship is troubled. April fails to make a career out of acting, while Frank hates the tedium of his work. April wants new scenery and a chance to support the family so that Frank can find his passion.
April recalls how Frank talked about moving back to Paris
. With a failed career, she believes that Paris is the solution to their problems. She suggests they relocate. Initially Frank laughs off the idea, but then begins considering it. The only person who confronts the Wheelers' decision is John (Michael Shannon
), the troubled son of Helen. Frank admits to John that they indeed are running away from the hopelessness and emptiness of their repetitive lifestyle.
As the couple prepares to move, they are forced to reconsider. Frank, propelled by a carefree attitude brought on by the thought of Paris, turns in a sarcastic piece of work to his boss. To his surprise, his work is considered brilliant by company executives and he is offered a promotion. April becomes pregnant again. When she reveals it to Frank she floats the idea of an abortion. April is desperate to move to Paris, but Frank is disgusted by the thought of abortion, causing him to feel that moving to Paris is an unrealistic dream.
Frank discovers that April is contemplating having the abortion. He is furious and starts screaming at April, leading to a serious altercation. The next day Frank takes the promotion and tries to accept his uneventful life. At the end of an evening at a jazz bar with Milly and Shep, a car blocks in one of the cars the couples came in. April suggests that Frank and Milly head home to release the babysitters at each house while she and Shep wait for the blocking car's driver to return. They re-enter the jazz bar, eventually dancing feverishly with each other, then making love in the car. Shep professes his long-held love for April, but she rejects his interest.
The following morning, Frank cheerfully admits to having an affair with an assistant at his office, hoping to reconcile with April. April responds apathetically and tells him it does not matter and her love for him has gone. The Givings come over for dinner, and John lambasts Frank for crushing April's hope, as well as his acceptance of his circumstances, implying that Frank got April pregnant specifically to destroy the idea of moving to Paris, and that April allowed him to do it so that she would feel her husband was "a real man". Frank nearly attacks John and the Givings hurry out. April and Frank have another fight, which causes April to flee the house.
Frank spends the night in a drunken stupor, but is shocked to find April in the kitchen calmly making breakfast the next morning. The couple have a pleasant breakfast, with April asking Frank about work and Frank seeming enthusiastic as he describes how the large computer purchase he is making will help many businesses. April's mood seems to have improved, but after bidding good-bye to Frank she breaks down and prepares to perform her own instillation abortion
, which proves fatal. Shep goes to the hospital to support Frank, who hysterically tells him that "she did it to herself" but is grief-stricken when he hears of April's demise.
The house is acquired by a new couple and we hear Milly telling the story of the Wheelers to the new owners, telling them how Frank moved to the city and is still working with computers, devoting every spare moment of his life to his children. Shep blames himself in part for April's death, more than likely believing the unborn child was his own from their previous affair, and quietly tells Milly that he doesn't want to talk about the Wheelers anymore.
Helen tells Howard that she thinks the new couple that moved in are the first people she has ever found suitable for the home. Howard asks why she does not give credit to the Wheelers, but she says they were too whimsical, trying and neurotic. As she continues discussing what she did not like about the Wheelers, Howard turns off his hearing aid.
considered filming it, but opted to make The Manchurian Candidate
instead. Samuel Goldwyn Jr., expressed an interest in making it into a film but others in his studio convinced him that it lacked commercial prospects. In 1965, producer Albert Ruddy
bought the rights but did not like the book's ending, and wanted to obscure April's death with "tricky camerawork". He became involved in adapting The Godfather
and, five years later, while a writer-in-residence at Wichita State University
, Yates offered to adapt his work for the screen. Ruddy had other projects lined up at the time and demurred, eventually selling the rights to actor Patrick O'Neal. The actor loved the book and spent the rest of his life trying to finish a workable screenplay. Yates read O'Neal's treatment of his novel and found it "godawful", but O'Neal refused the writer's repeated offers to buy back the rights. Yates died in 1992, O'Neal two years later.
The project remained in limbo until 2001 when Todd Field
expressed interest in adapting it for the screen. However, when told by the O'Neal estate he would be required to shoot O'Neal's script as written, Field stepped away from the material and opted to make Little Children
instead. David Thompson
eventually purchased the rights for BBC Films
. In March 2007, BBC Films established a partnership with DreamWorks
, and the rights to the film's worldwide distribution were assigned to Paramount Pictures
, owner of DreamWorks. On February 14, 2008, Paramount announced that Paramount Vantage
was "taking over distribution duties on Revolutionary Road". The BBC hired Justin Haythe to write the screenplay because, according to the screenwriter, he was "hugely affordable".
Kate Winslet sent producer Scott Rudin
the script and he told her that her husband, director Sam Mendes, would be perfect to direct it. She gave Mendes Yates' novel and told him, "I really want to play this part". He read Haythe's script and then the book in quick succession. Haythe's first draft was very faithful to the novel, using large parts of Yates' own language, but Mendes told him to find ways to externalize what Frank and April do not say to each other.
Once Leonardo DiCaprio agreed to do the film, it went almost immediately into production. DiCaprio said that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment". DiCaprio prepared for the role by watching several documentaries about the 1950s and the origin of suburbs. He said that the film was not meant to be a romance and that he and Winslet intentionally avoided films that show them in romantic roles since Titanic
. Both actors were reluctant to make films similar to Titanic because "we just knew it would be a fundamental mistake to try to repeat any of those themes". To prepare for the role, Winslet read The Feminine Mystique
by Betty Friedan
.
Mendes had the cast rehearse for three-and-a-half weeks before principal photography and shot everything in sequence and on location. Actor Michael Shannon said that he did not feel that on the set of the film there were any stars, but "a group of people united by a passion for the material and wanting to honor the book". He said that Winslet and DiCaprio could only make such a good performance as a couple because they had developed a friendship since their work on Titanic. For Shannon, it was more important to prepare for the moment when he walked on the set than being concerned about the movie stars he was working with. On the fight scenes between him and Winslet, DiCaprio said, "So much of what happens between Frank and April in this film is what's left unsaid. I actually found it a real joy to do those fight scenes because finally, these people were letting each other have it." The shoot was so emotionally and physically exhausting for DiCaprio that he postponed his next film for two months.
Mendes wanted to create a claustrophobic
dynamic and shot all of the Wheeler house interiors in an actual house in Darien, Connecticut
. DiCaprio remembers, "it was many months in this house and there was no escaping the environment. I think it fed into the performances." They could not film in a period accurate house because it would have been too small to shoot inside. Production Designer Kristi Zea is responsible for the "iconic, nostalgic images of quaint Americana", although she says that was "absolutely the antithesis of what we wanted to do". Zea chose for the set of this film furnishings that "middle-class America would be buying at that time".
During the post-production
phase, Mendes cut 18 scenes, or 20 minutes to achieve a less literal version that he saw as more in the spirit of Yates' novel.
, based on 190 reviews, with the consensus being "Brilliantly acted and emotionally powerful, Revolutionary Road is a handsome adaptation of Richard Yates' celebrated novel". Metacritic
lists it with a 69 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 38 reviews.
Kenneth Turan
of the Los Angeles Times
said:
Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News said:
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave Revolutionary Road four stars out of four, commending the acting and screenplay and calling the film "so good it is devastating". He said of Winslet and DiCaprio, "they are so good, they stop being actors and become the people I grew up around."
Todd McCarthy of Variety
called the film "faithful, intelligent, admirably acted, superbly shot" and added, "It also offers a near-perfect case study of the ways in which film is incapable of capturing certain crucial literary qualities, in this case the very things that elevate the book from being a merely insightful study of a deteriorating marriage into a remarkable one... Even when the dramatic temperature is cranked up too high, the picture's underpinnings seem only partly present, to the point where one suspects that what it's reaching for dramatically might be all but unattainable—perhaps approachable only by Pinter
at his peak." McCarthy later significantly qualified his review, calling Revolutionary Road "problematic" and that it "has some issues that just won't go away". He concludes that Revolutionary Road suffers in comparison to Billy Wilder
's The Apartment
and Richard Quine
's Strangers When We Meet
because of its "narrow vision", even arguing that the television series Mad Men
handles the issues of conformity, frustration, and hypocrisy "with more panache and precision".
David Ansen
of Newsweek
said the film "is lushly, impeccably mounted—perhaps too much so. Mendes, a superb stage director, has an innately theatrical style: everything pops off the screen a little bigger and bolder than life, but the effect, rather than intensifying the emotions, calls attention to itself. Instead of losing myself in the story, I often felt on the outside looking in, appreciating the craftsmanship, but one step removed from the agony on display. Revolutionary Road is impressive, but it feels like a classic encased in amber."
Owen Gleiberman
of Entertainment Weekly
graded the film B+ and commented:
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
called the film a "didactic, emotionally overblown critique of the soulless suburbs" and added, "Revolutionary Road is, essentially, a repeat for Mendes of American Beauty
... Once more, the suburbs are well-upholstered nightmares and its denizens clueless—other than one estranged male. Clearly, this environment attracts the dramatic sensibilities of this theater-trained director. Everything is boldly indicated to the audience from arch acting styles to the wink-wink, nod-nod of its design. Indeed his actors play the subtext with such fury that the text virtually disappears. Subtlety is not one of Mendes' strong suits."
Rex Reed
of The New York Observer called the film "a flawless, moment-to-moment autopsy
of a marriage on the rocks and an indictment of the American Dream
gone sour" and "a profound, intelligent and deeply heartfelt work that raises the bar of filmmaking to exhilarating."
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
called the film "raw and riveting" and commented, "Directed with extraordinary skill by Sam Mendes, who warms the chill in the Yates-faithful script by Justin Haythe, the film is a tough road well worth traveling . . . DiCaprio is in peak form, bringing layers of buried emotion to a defeated man. And the glorious Winslet defines what makes an actress great, blazing commitment to a character and the range to make every nuance felt."
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle
voted the film as his best of 2008. He commented, "Finally, this is a movie that can and should be seen more than once. Watch it one time through her eyes. Watch it again through his eyes. It works both ways. It works in every way. This is a great American film."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
, from screenplay by Justin Haythe
Justin Haythe
Justin Haythe is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.Born in London, Haythe is a graduate of The American School in London and Middlebury College. He earned his MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. His debut novel, The Honeymoon, was nominated for the 2004 Man Booker Prize...
, starring Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
and Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same name
Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road, the first novel of author Richard Yates, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1962 along with Catch-22 and The Moviegoer. When it was published by Atlantic-Little, Brown in 1961, it received critical acclaim, and the New York Times reviewed it as "beautifully crafted.....
by Richard Yates
Richard Yates (novelist)
Richard Yates was an American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life.-Life:...
.
The film opened in limited release on December 26, 2008, and expanded wide on January 23, 2009. It was the first film in which DiCaprio and Winslet have co-starred since the 1997 film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. It also included Titanic co-star Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
: Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
).
Plot
In the late 1940s, Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
) meets April (Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
) at a party. He is a longshoreman, hoping to be a cashier
Cashier
Cashier is an occupation focused on the handling of cash money.- Retail :In a shop, a cashier is a person who scans the goods through a machine called a cash register that the consumer wishes to purchase at the retail store. After all of the goods have been scanned, the cashier then collects...
; she wants to be an actress. Frank later secures a sales position with the same company at which his father worked and he and April marry. In 1955, the Wheelers move to 115 Revolutionary Road in suburban Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
when April becomes pregnant. Frank and April settle into the normality of suburban life while raising their children, Michael and Jennifer.
The couple become close friends with their realtor Helen Givings (Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
) and her husband Howard, and neighbor Milly Campbell (Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Hahn is an American actress best known for her role as Lily Lebowski on the television series Crossing Jordan.-Personal life:...
) and her husband Shep (David Harbour
David Harbour
David Harbour is an American actor who has performed in film, television and in the theater. He is known for his role as villain Gregg Beam in Quantum of Solace, as Shep Campbell in Revolutionary Road, and as Russell Crowe's source in State of Play...
). To their friends the Wheelers are the perfect couple, but their relationship is troubled. April fails to make a career out of acting, while Frank hates the tedium of his work. April wants new scenery and a chance to support the family so that Frank can find his passion.
April recalls how Frank talked about moving back to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. With a failed career, she believes that Paris is the solution to their problems. She suggests they relocate. Initially Frank laughs off the idea, but then begins considering it. The only person who confronts the Wheelers' decision is John (Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
), the troubled son of Helen. Frank admits to John that they indeed are running away from the hopelessness and emptiness of their repetitive lifestyle.
As the couple prepares to move, they are forced to reconsider. Frank, propelled by a carefree attitude brought on by the thought of Paris, turns in a sarcastic piece of work to his boss. To his surprise, his work is considered brilliant by company executives and he is offered a promotion. April becomes pregnant again. When she reveals it to Frank she floats the idea of an abortion. April is desperate to move to Paris, but Frank is disgusted by the thought of abortion, causing him to feel that moving to Paris is an unrealistic dream.
Frank discovers that April is contemplating having the abortion. He is furious and starts screaming at April, leading to a serious altercation. The next day Frank takes the promotion and tries to accept his uneventful life. At the end of an evening at a jazz bar with Milly and Shep, a car blocks in one of the cars the couples came in. April suggests that Frank and Milly head home to release the babysitters at each house while she and Shep wait for the blocking car's driver to return. They re-enter the jazz bar, eventually dancing feverishly with each other, then making love in the car. Shep professes his long-held love for April, but she rejects his interest.
The following morning, Frank cheerfully admits to having an affair with an assistant at his office, hoping to reconcile with April. April responds apathetically and tells him it does not matter and her love for him has gone. The Givings come over for dinner, and John lambasts Frank for crushing April's hope, as well as his acceptance of his circumstances, implying that Frank got April pregnant specifically to destroy the idea of moving to Paris, and that April allowed him to do it so that she would feel her husband was "a real man". Frank nearly attacks John and the Givings hurry out. April and Frank have another fight, which causes April to flee the house.
Frank spends the night in a drunken stupor, but is shocked to find April in the kitchen calmly making breakfast the next morning. The couple have a pleasant breakfast, with April asking Frank about work and Frank seeming enthusiastic as he describes how the large computer purchase he is making will help many businesses. April's mood seems to have improved, but after bidding good-bye to Frank she breaks down and prepares to perform her own instillation abortion
Instillation abortion
Instillation abortion is a rarely used method of induced abortion, performed in the second trimester, by injecting a solution into the uterus to cause uterine contractions.-Procedure:...
, which proves fatal. Shep goes to the hospital to support Frank, who hysterically tells him that "she did it to herself" but is grief-stricken when he hears of April's demise.
The house is acquired by a new couple and we hear Milly telling the story of the Wheelers to the new owners, telling them how Frank moved to the city and is still working with computers, devoting every spare moment of his life to his children. Shep blames himself in part for April's death, more than likely believing the unborn child was his own from their previous affair, and quietly tells Milly that he doesn't want to talk about the Wheelers anymore.
Helen tells Howard that she thinks the new couple that moved in are the first people she has ever found suitable for the home. Howard asks why she does not give credit to the Wheelers, but she says they were too whimsical, trying and neurotic. As she continues discussing what she did not like about the Wheelers, Howard turns off his hearing aid.
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
as Frank Wheeler - Kate WinsletKate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
as April Wheeler - Kathy BatesKathy BatesKathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
as Helen Givings - Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
as John Givings, Jr. - Kathryn HahnKathryn HahnKathryn Hahn is an American actress best known for her role as Lily Lebowski on the television series Crossing Jordan.-Personal life:...
as Milly Campbell - Dylan BakerDylan BakerDylan Baker is an American actor, known for playing supporting roles in both major studio and independent films.-Early life:...
as Jack Ordway - David HarbourDavid HarbourDavid Harbour is an American actor who has performed in film, television and in the theater. He is known for his role as villain Gregg Beam in Quantum of Solace, as Shep Campbell in Revolutionary Road, and as Russell Crowe's source in State of Play...
as Shep Campbell - Richard EastonRichard EastonRichard Easton is a Canadian actor. He is best known in for his portrayal of Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers.-Biography:...
as Howard Givings - Zoe KazanZoe Kazan-Early life and education:Kazan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, and the granddaughter of film and theatre director Elia Kazan...
as Maureen Grube - Jay O. SandersJay O. SandersJay Olcutt Sanders is an American character actor.Sanders was born in Austin, Texas, to Phyllis Rae and James Olcutt Sanders. He is noted for playing Mob lawyer character Steven Kordo in the 1986–88 NBC detective series Crime Story...
as Bart Pollock
Development
After Richard Yates' novel was published in 1961, director John FrankenheimerJohn Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
considered filming it, but opted to make The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
instead. Samuel Goldwyn Jr., expressed an interest in making it into a film but others in his studio convinced him that it lacked commercial prospects. In 1965, producer Albert Ruddy
Albert Ruddy
Albert S. Ruddy is a Canadian-born producer. Ruddy was born March 28, 1930 in Montreal and raised in New York City with his mother. Ruddy attended Brooklyn Technical High School before earning a scholarship to allow him to study chemical engineering at City College of New York...
bought the rights but did not like the book's ending, and wanted to obscure April's death with "tricky camerawork". He became involved in adapting The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
and, five years later, while a writer-in-residence at Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
, Yates offered to adapt his work for the screen. Ruddy had other projects lined up at the time and demurred, eventually selling the rights to actor Patrick O'Neal. The actor loved the book and spent the rest of his life trying to finish a workable screenplay. Yates read O'Neal's treatment of his novel and found it "godawful", but O'Neal refused the writer's repeated offers to buy back the rights. Yates died in 1992, O'Neal two years later.
The project remained in limbo until 2001 when Todd Field
Todd Field
William Todd Field, known professionally as Todd Field is an American actor and writer/director. He has received three Academy Award nominations.-Background and personal life:...
expressed interest in adapting it for the screen. However, when told by the O'Neal estate he would be required to shoot O'Neal's script as written, Field stepped away from the material and opted to make Little Children
Little Children (film)
Little Children is a 2006 American drama film directed by Todd Field. It is based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta, who along with Field wrote the screenplay. It stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley, Noah Emmerich, Gregg Edelman, Phyllis Somerville...
instead. David Thompson
David M. Thompson
David Marcus Thompson is a British film and television producer.Thompson moved to London in 1978, and worked for the BBC as a film programmer and documentary maker. He was the founding head of BBC Films...
eventually purchased the rights for BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
. In March 2007, BBC Films established a partnership with DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
, and the rights to the film's worldwide distribution were assigned to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, owner of DreamWorks. On February 14, 2008, Paramount announced that Paramount Vantage
Paramount Vantage
Paramount Vantage is the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures , charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and...
was "taking over distribution duties on Revolutionary Road". The BBC hired Justin Haythe to write the screenplay because, according to the screenwriter, he was "hugely affordable".
Kate Winslet sent producer Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
the script and he told her that her husband, director Sam Mendes, would be perfect to direct it. She gave Mendes Yates' novel and told him, "I really want to play this part". He read Haythe's script and then the book in quick succession. Haythe's first draft was very faithful to the novel, using large parts of Yates' own language, but Mendes told him to find ways to externalize what Frank and April do not say to each other.
Once Leonardo DiCaprio agreed to do the film, it went almost immediately into production. DiCaprio said that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment". DiCaprio prepared for the role by watching several documentaries about the 1950s and the origin of suburbs. He said that the film was not meant to be a romance and that he and Winslet intentionally avoided films that show them in romantic roles since Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. Both actors were reluctant to make films similar to Titanic because "we just knew it would be a fundamental mistake to try to repeat any of those themes". To prepare for the role, Winslet read The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique, published February 19, 1963, by W.W. Norton and Co., is a nonfiction book written by Betty Friedan. It is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States....
by Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
.
Mendes had the cast rehearse for three-and-a-half weeks before principal photography and shot everything in sequence and on location. Actor Michael Shannon said that he did not feel that on the set of the film there were any stars, but "a group of people united by a passion for the material and wanting to honor the book". He said that Winslet and DiCaprio could only make such a good performance as a couple because they had developed a friendship since their work on Titanic. For Shannon, it was more important to prepare for the moment when he walked on the set than being concerned about the movie stars he was working with. On the fight scenes between him and Winslet, DiCaprio said, "So much of what happens between Frank and April in this film is what's left unsaid. I actually found it a real joy to do those fight scenes because finally, these people were letting each other have it." The shoot was so emotionally and physically exhausting for DiCaprio that he postponed his next film for two months.
Mendes wanted to create a claustrophobic
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
dynamic and shot all of the Wheeler house interiors in an actual house in Darien, Connecticut
Darien, Connecticut
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast", the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census. Darien was listed at #9 at CNN Money's list of "top-earning towns" in the United States as of 2011...
. DiCaprio remembers, "it was many months in this house and there was no escaping the environment. I think it fed into the performances." They could not film in a period accurate house because it would have been too small to shoot inside. Production Designer Kristi Zea is responsible for the "iconic, nostalgic images of quaint Americana", although she says that was "absolutely the antithesis of what we wanted to do". Zea chose for the set of this film furnishings that "middle-class America would be buying at that time".
During the post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
phase, Mendes cut 18 scenes, or 20 minutes to achieve a less literal version that he saw as more in the spirit of Yates' novel.
Reaction
Revolutionary Road had a limited release in the United States at three theaters on December 26, 2008, and a wide release at 1,058 theaters on January 23, 2009. Revolutionary Road has earned $22.9 million at the domestic box office and $51.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $74.6 million.Critical reception
Revolutionary Road has received generally positive reviews from critics. It holds a 69% rating from critics on review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 190 reviews, with the consensus being "Brilliantly acted and emotionally powerful, Revolutionary Road is a handsome adaptation of Richard Yates' celebrated novel". Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
lists it with a 69 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 38 reviews.
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said:
Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News said:
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave Revolutionary Road four stars out of four, commending the acting and screenplay and calling the film "so good it is devastating". He said of Winslet and DiCaprio, "they are so good, they stop being actors and become the people I grew up around."
Todd McCarthy of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called the film "faithful, intelligent, admirably acted, superbly shot" and added, "It also offers a near-perfect case study of the ways in which film is incapable of capturing certain crucial literary qualities, in this case the very things that elevate the book from being a merely insightful study of a deteriorating marriage into a remarkable one... Even when the dramatic temperature is cranked up too high, the picture's underpinnings seem only partly present, to the point where one suspects that what it's reaching for dramatically might be all but unattainable—perhaps approachable only by Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
at his peak." McCarthy later significantly qualified his review, calling Revolutionary Road "problematic" and that it "has some issues that just won't go away". He concludes that Revolutionary Road suffers in comparison to Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's The Apartment
The Apartment
The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder's follow-up to the enormously popular Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, was a commercial and critical hit, grossing $25...
and Richard Quine
Richard Quine
Richard Quine was an American stage, film, and radio actor and film director.Quine was born in Detroit. He made his Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May in 1939 and appeared in My Sister Eileen the following year...
's Strangers When We Meet
Strangers When We Meet (film)
Strangers When We Meet is a 1960 drama film about two married neighbors who have an affair. The movie was adapted by Evan Hunter from his novel of the same name and directed by Richard Quine...
because of its "narrow vision", even arguing that the television series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
handles the issues of conformity, frustration, and hypocrisy "with more panache and precision".
David Ansen
David Ansen
David Ansen is a reviewer and senior editor for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He came to Newsweek after several years as the chief film critic at Boston's The Real Paper...
of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
said the film "is lushly, impeccably mounted—perhaps too much so. Mendes, a superb stage director, has an innately theatrical style: everything pops off the screen a little bigger and bolder than life, but the effect, rather than intensifying the emotions, calls attention to itself. Instead of losing myself in the story, I often felt on the outside looking in, appreciating the craftsmanship, but one step removed from the agony on display. Revolutionary Road is impressive, but it feels like a classic encased in amber."
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
graded the film B+ and commented:
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
called the film a "didactic, emotionally overblown critique of the soulless suburbs" and added, "Revolutionary Road is, essentially, a repeat for Mendes of American Beauty
American Beauty (film)
American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged magazine writer who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela...
... Once more, the suburbs are well-upholstered nightmares and its denizens clueless—other than one estranged male. Clearly, this environment attracts the dramatic sensibilities of this theater-trained director. Everything is boldly indicated to the audience from arch acting styles to the wink-wink, nod-nod of its design. Indeed his actors play the subtext with such fury that the text virtually disappears. Subtlety is not one of Mendes' strong suits."
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.-Life and career:...
of The New York Observer called the film "a flawless, moment-to-moment autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
of a marriage on the rocks and an indictment of the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
gone sour" and "a profound, intelligent and deeply heartfelt work that raises the bar of filmmaking to exhilarating."
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called the film "raw and riveting" and commented, "Directed with extraordinary skill by Sam Mendes, who warms the chill in the Yates-faithful script by Justin Haythe, the film is a tough road well worth traveling . . . DiCaprio is in peak form, bringing layers of buried emotion to a defeated man. And the glorious Winslet defines what makes an actress great, blazing commitment to a character and the range to make every nuance felt."
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
voted the film as his best of 2008. He commented, "Finally, this is a movie that can and should be seen more than once. Watch it one time through her eyes. Watch it again through his eyes. It works both ways. It works in every way. This is a great American film."
Top ten lists
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.- 1st – Mick LaSalleMick LaSalleMick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,... - 6th – Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
- 6th – Peter TraversPeter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
, Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... - 7th – Lou LumenickLou LumenickLouis J. "Lou" Lumenick is an American film critic. He is the chief film critic and a blogger for the New York Post and has reviewed films there since 1999.-Life and career:Lumenick was born and raised in Astoria, Queens...
, New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions... - 8th – James BerardinelliJames BerardinelliJames Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
, ReelViews - 9th – David DenbyDavid Denby (film critic)David Denby is an American journalist, best known as a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B.A...
, The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast... - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Ebert gave an alphabetical top 20 list)
Accolades
- Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his role as John Givings. - By missing out on an Academy Award nomination, Kate Winslet became only the second actress to win the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress in a Drama without receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the same role. Due to the difference in rules between the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, Winslet's performance in The Reader was considered a leading one by The Academy, despite winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance. According to Academy rules, an actor or actress may receive only one nomination in a single category. Due to Winslet's performance in The Reader being nominated, her performance in this film became ineligible.
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome |
| Academy Awards 81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST... |
Best Art Direction Academy Award for Best Art Direction The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999... |
Debra Schutt and Kristi Zea | |
| Best Costume Design | Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky is an American costume designer. He has worked both on stage shows as well as for film, and has received two Academy Awards.-Career:... |
||
| Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
Michael Shannon Michael Shannon (actor) Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road... |
||
| BAFTA Awards 62nd British Academy Film Awards The 62nd British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 8 February 2009, and honoured the best films of 2008.-Best Actor:Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler*Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon... |
Best Actress BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... |
|
| Best Costume Design BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design The British Academy Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the annual film awards given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-1960s:* 1969 - Oh! What a Lovely War - Anthony Mendleson** Funny Girl – Irene Sharaff... |
Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky is an American costume designer. He has worked both on stage shows as well as for film, and has received two Academy Awards.-Career:... |
||
| Best Production Design BAFTA Award for Best Production Design List of winners of the BAFTA Awards from 1964 to the present in the category "Best Production Design".-1960s:Best British Production Design - Black and White1964: Dr... |
Debra Schutt and Kristi Zea | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter... |
Justin Haythe Justin Haythe Justin Haythe is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.Born in London, Haythe is a graduate of The American School in London and Middlebury College. He earned his MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. His debut novel, The Honeymoon, was nominated for the 2004 Man Booker Prize... |
||
| Costume Designers Guild Costume Designers Guild Awards 2008 The 11th Costume Designers Guild Awards, honouring the best costume designs in film and television for 2008, will be given on February 17, 2009... |
Best Costume Design – Period Film | Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky Albert Wolsky is an American costume designer. He has worked both on stage shows as well as for film, and has received two Academy Awards.-Career:... |
|
| Golden Globe Awards 66th Golden Globe Awards The 66th Golden Globe Awards Ceremony was broadcast on January 11, 2009, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States on the NBC TV network... |
Best Motion Picture – Drama Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama This page lists the winners and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, since its institution in 1951. The organizer, Hollywood Foreign Press Association , is an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications... |
||
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951... |
Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television... |
||
| Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951... |
Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... |
||
| Best Director – Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture This page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based... |
Sam Mendes Sam Mendes Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond... |
||
| 29th London Film Critics Circle Awards London Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 The 29th Critics' Circle Awards, given by the London Film Critics Circle in February 2009, honoured the best in film for 2008.-Actor of the Year:Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler*Sean Penn - Milk*Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon... |
Actress of the Year | Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... (for Revolutionary Road and The Reader) |
|
| Screen Actors Guild 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards ----Best Cast - Motion Picture: Slumdog Millionaire----Best Cast - Drama Series: Mad Men Best Cast - Comedy Series: 30 Rock ... |
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Motion Picture | Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... |
|
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards 2008 The winners of the 13th Annual Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film and television in 2008, were announced on December 14, 2008.-Top 10 films:*Ballast*Changeling*Doubt*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River*Milk... |
Top 10 Films of 2008 | ||
| Best Art Direction and Production Design Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design The Satellite Award for Best Art Direction is one the annual awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :Best Art Direction:*1996: Romeo + Juliet**The English Patient**Evita**Hamlet... |
Kristi Zea, Teresa Carriker-Thayer, John Kasarda, and Nicholas Lundy | ||
| Best Film – Drama Satellite Award for Best Film - Drama The Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture Drama is one of the annual awards given to motion pictures by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :-2000s:-2010s:... |
|||
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards.- 1996–1999 :- 2000–2009 :-2010–2019:... |
Leonardo DiCaprio | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is an annual award given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :... |
Justin Haythe | ||
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.-Drama :2000: Bruce Greenwood – Thirteen Days*Jeff Bridges – The Contender as Jackson Evans... |
Michael Shannon Michael Shannon (actor) Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road... |
||
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2008 -Best Actor:**Sean Penn - Milk as Harvey Milk*Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon*Richard Jenkins - The Visitor*Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler*Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road-Best Actress:... |
Best Actress | Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... |
|
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 The winners of the 9th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2008, were announced on January 13, 2009.-International:Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk*Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon*Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler... |
Best Actress | Kate Winslet Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader... (for Revolutionary Road and The Reader) |
|