Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Revolutionary Romeo + Juliet


Adam from Club Silencio here. I'm pretty excited about the impending reunion between Kate and Leo in Revolutionary Road, even though their suburban serenade looks to go south faster than you can say Don and Betty Draper.

But once upon a time they truly had stars in their eyes as the ultimate in star-crossed lovers. Long before they sailed the open seas as King and Queen of the world, they were Romeo and Juliet...


Not to each other, however. (Sorry to ruin the moment.) Icebergs, snooty class politics, powerful families... It seems the ever-cruel hand of fate has done nothing to keep Kate and Leo together. In this case they were divided by being in completely different movies!

Both actor's careers gained infinite momentum after these startling turns. By the time of Romeo + Juliet, Leo DiCaprio was already about to board that doomed (but oh so profitable) ship, and was prepping for that tragic romance by starring in THE ultimate. My wishes that Leo play the role of Romeo by reprising his character of Arnie Grape were quickly vanquished, but I can't say it didn't work out in his favor. Young girls (and me) were swooning over his every hyper-articulated word.


Kate Winslet's career began with her turn as the ever-imaginative Juliet in Peter Jackson's divine Heavenly Creatures. She'd already mastered her ravishing blend of comedy and dramatic poignancy by her debut film! And talk about star-crossed lovers, Juliet's lesbian love affair with Pauline is forced apart by their families and doctors. Big mistake. This generation's couples are a bit more proactive. They takes drastic measures with a meddling mom in order to assure their dreamlife continue.

Kate as Juliet puts it best, "All the best people have bad chests and bone diseases. It's all frightfully romantic!" That's a good way to describe Kate and Leo actually: frightfully romantic. The pairing looks so perfect on the surface, but we all know better. If Revolutionary Road doesn't end in a double suicide or matricide, we can consider it their happy ending.

9 comments:

NATHANIEL R said...

killer wrap up there adam. anything short of that would be a happy ending for these two.

what's crazy about both Leo and Kate is that they were so fully formed right from early in their careers. movie stars bursting forth from the head of Zeus, or perhaps the bust of a studio mogul to update it somewhat...

people may quibble that Leonardo "turned into a good actor" but he was pretty sensational in early films too --people just forget because of the big boat.

Adam said...

Born movie stars, completely. It's definitely true that Leo's improved vastly, but I think roles like Arnie Grape are among his greatest and that was early on in his career. Tell it to Rosie O'Donnell. It's not easy to play mentally challenged without turning it into something especially uncomfortable, and in her case hilarious.

If she was right during her guest stint on 'Extras', Kate needs to take that route soon to finally snatch her Oscar.

Marie said...

They have consistently kept their audiences on edge with the roles they choose. I would say they are probably the most versatile actors on the big screen.
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Anonymous said...

Truly talented. They have very powerful chemistry in their acting.

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Unknown said...

very powerful actors. When they are together the chemistry is so hot, you can feel it. They compliment each other.

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daniella raine said...

Its awesome to watch this two together for any role as their on screen chemistry is really amazing. They are very versatile and have matured greatly as their subsequent roles have proven. We will continue to enjoy this stars for a long time to come.
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Unknown said...

They were just made to play this movie,absolutely beautiful.
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Juanita said...

The use of dramatic structure especially such effects as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of subplots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill.

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Unknown said...

Kate and Leo are without doubt the best paired actors on the big screen and as such their performance can not be equated or compared to other paired characters.I would really like to see them once again on the big stage together though i think the setting could really affect their performance especially if the movie is in a present day setting.

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