Jumping ahead seven years, we see the ways in which their potential has fizzled, how their lives have been confined to a very narrow routine. They purchase a new home on Long Island, on Revolutionary Road no less, and the days start to blur into one another: Frank rises early, takes the train into work a job he hates, while April stays home and keeps the homefront sparkling.

Something is missing, some spark of excitement or eagerness. And "Revolutionary Road" very poignantly begins amid the promise of change. April has an idea - a naive one, but sometimes those are the best kind - that the family should pack up and move to Paris. She would work as a secretary while Frank would decide what it is he wants to do with his life. They would be happy, freed of their routines and Frank freed of the misery that follows him home from every day at the office.

The plan is set into motion, a spark of love returns to the Wheeler bedroom, but the giddiness of the prospect of a European existence fades with an unexpected announcement that brings all the preparation to a grinding halt. The move around the globe is canceled, Frank goes back to his job in the city and is quickly promoted. As April finds herself even more isolated in her suburban compound, she comes to resent Frank, who in turn resents her resentment. He is bringing home the money after all; she should be grateful for staying afloat. Dreams of a better life be damned.

One might be tempted to compare "Revolutionary Road" to Sam Mendes’ previous Oscar darling, "American Beauty," which was a movie about characters revolting from suburban malaise. But "Revoltionary Road" is not really about a wider society or larger issues of following dreams or feeling trapped. It may appear that way initially, but it’s really a story about the inner workings of a marriage’s collapse. There is such startling, brute honesty here that anyone walking into the theater looking for a sweet "Titanic" reunion between stars Di Caprio and Winslet will likely run out of the theater screaming halfway through. We see the ways in which romance has been replaced by routine, how Frank believes he is asserting his masculinity by putting money into the bank but April loses her respect for a man who is failing to assert his independence. Affection fades, sex dies, the coveting of others begins and judgment shifts from the quality of the personality to the quantity and costs of possessions.

It is a nonstop ride down, as two people find themselves with too many fixed costs and too few options, and lash out at the only person they can: each other. It may not have made that much money at the movie theater last year, but it’s worth a second look on DVD.

E-mail: SnyderReviews@hotmail.com