All About Kate

This Monday I was treated to a double dippin' of Winslet. Kate Winslet. In The Reader she plays Hanna Schmitz, an older woman who has a passionate love affair one summer with a much younger high school boy, Michael Berg (David Kross). After the abrupt end of their relationship, their paths cross years later when Michael is a law student and Hanna, a former concentration camp guard, is on trial for murder. I saw one reviewer describe Winslet's performance as "devastating." That is 100% accurate. Winslet, and parts of the film, are completely devastating and just heart breaking to watch. In addition to Winslet, I think Kross (who is only 18!) deserves some recognition for his work on this film also. He was really great and at times carried the weight of the world on his young shoulders better than a man twice his age. Ralph Fiennes, who portrays Michael as an older man, also gives a fine performance and is able to continue Kross's indifference and love with great success. The Reader is a fantastic film.

My second helpin' of Winslet came via an advance screening of Revolutionary Road, costarring Leonardo DiCaprio. Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) again treats us to a slice of American suburbia, this time in 1950's Connecticut. The performances of DiCaprio and Winslet are what stand out from Revolutionary Road. As Frank and April Wheeler, each is unhappy in their cookie cutter lives, but each go about dealing and coping with it in different ways. What's glorious about this film is the knock-down-drag-out fights between the Wheelers. To see DiCaprio and Winslet travel the full range of emotions and do it to such a high magnitude is terrific. I do have to mention the small, but great supporting role Michael Shannon played. He stole every scene he was in. Neither The Reader or Revolutionary Road will leave you feeling particulary happy, but I took comfort in the fact that I had just seen two remarkable films.

And you gotta give it up to Winslet. How she has not won an Oscar yet, I'll never understand. Hopefully this will be her winning year. She's at the top of her game in these films. As DiCaprio said, she really is the best actress of her generation.