I’ve written more than once about my love for the Revolutionary Road trailers.  They are quite simply awesome.  Well apparently Anna Pickard over at guardian.co.uk couldn’t agree with me less.  She has written a second by second review of the trailer and has come to the conclusion that the film is super depressing and that it is therefore not worth seeing.  Below is the trailer and following that some of Ms. Pickard’s thoughts:

“This is awesome. I honestly feel like I’ve sat through the whole film – my heart is as heavy as if I’d seen the entire thing twice – and all in a matter of 140 seconds! Now that, my friends, is quality film-making.

Is it an honest adaptation of a classic novel? Undoubtedly. Is it a film packed full of incredible performances by some of the best actors still unaccessorised by Oscars? Yes, of course. Is it a searing examination of the hidden pitfalls in the American Dream? Hell, yes. Do we know what to expect from the whole film just by watching the trailer? Yes, yes, and yes again. But my God, if there was ever a trailer to make one think “gosh, let’s go and see that, buy some popcorn and zone out, because that looks like fun” LESS, then this is it.”

Well duh Ms. Pickard - if all you want is to eat popcorn and zone out than this is obviously not the film for you.  You should probably stick with Marley and Me and call it a day.  I would also offer here that if that is all you really want out of the cinema, than perhaps the problem is not with Revolutionary Road, perhaps it is with you.

Of course it’s fun to eat popcorn and zone out once in awhile.  For example I saw Twlight over the holiday break and had a great time. But you can’t just criticize a film or trailer because it might be depressing.  You can choose not to see it if that isn’t your cup of tea, but to suggest that it is not worth seeing seems irresponsible to me.   How boring and bland the world and cinema would be if the only films people made were fun and fancy free.

What would we learn?  And more than that what would we lose in terms of the window cinema can provide into the world and the human condition.

And I should add here that 1) the trailer may be indicative of the mood of the film but in no way “gives it all away” 2) Revolutionary Road is good, I really liked it, but it really isn’t a hard film.   It may not be a feel good film, but there a lot more complex works out there.

In fact, takepart to read about 10 films I found to be better than Revolutionary Road this year.