So, what do you do?
I’m studying to be an actress.
You?
I’m a longshoreman.
No, I mean really.
I mean... I mean really too.
Although, starting next Monday, I’m doing something a little more glamorous.
What's that?
Night cashier at a cafeteria.
I don’t mean how you make money.
I mean,
what are you interested in?
Honey - if I had the answer to that one,
I bet I’d bore us both to death in half an hour.
Thank God, that’s over...
...And she was very disappointing.
Oh, Frank!
Oh, very nice Frank!
Oh, thanks so much, Mrs. Givings.
I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed it.
You have a very talented wife.
I’ll pass it along!
Frank!
Hi!
She’s in there...!
I'm about ready for that drink?
Couple of minutes!
April...?
Sweetheart...?
- Hi. - Hi.
- You about ready to leave? - Yeah, yeah.
I’ve just got to get this makeup off.
Well... I guess it wasn’t
a triumph or anything, was it?
I guess not.
I’ll be ready in a minute.
Take your time.
Listen, will you do me a favor?
Milly and Shep wanted us to go out with them after.
Will you say we can’t?
Say it’s because of the baby sitter or something?
Well, the thing is, I already said that we could. I mean...
I just saw them and I said we would.
Then would you mind going out again and saying you were mistaken?
That should be simple enough.
Don’t you think that’s a little bit rude, April?
Well I’ll tell them myself.
Okay.
Take it easy.
All right?
I’ll tell them.
I mean it, baby. You were the only person in that play.
Thank you.
We should’ve let you get mixed up in the damned thing. It's all.
All right.
A bunch of amateurs.
I mean, you’ve studied for Christ’s sake.
Could we stop talking about it now?
Sure.
I just don’t want you feeling bad about it, that’s all,
because it’s not worth it, you know?
It’s bad enough having to live out here among these damn people -
- What’d you say? - I said yes. All right, Frank.
Could you just stop talking about it now,
before you drive me crazy, please?
What are you doing?
April...
Sweetheart...
Let's talk about this, okay?
Please, don't do that.
Come on now.
Don’t touch me.
April... April...
You just... LEAVE ME ALONE!
Okay.
It strikes me, that there’s a considerable amount of bullshit...
going on here, and there is just a few things, that I’d like to clear up.
All right?
Number one:
It’s not my fault the play was lousy.
Okay?
Number two:
It’s sure as hell not my fault
that you didn’t turn out to be an actress,
and the sooner you get over that little piece of soap opera
the better off we’ll both be.
Number three:
I don’t happen to fit the role of dumb, insensitive suburban husband,
you’ve been trying to leave that crap on me ever since we moved out here.
and I'm damn before wear.
Number four:
April...
April!
April...
What the hell are you doing? Get back to the car.
No. Let me manage it...
Just let me stand here for a second.
Goddamnit.
April...
Can you please, just get back in the car, and talk about this,
instead of running all over Route 12?
Haven’t I made it clear I don’t particularly want to talk about it?
Okay. I mean, Jesus, I’m trying to be nice about this thing. For God's sake.
How kind of you.
How terribly, terribly kind of you.
Wait a minute. I don’t deserve this.
You’re always so wonderfully definite, on the subject of...
- what you do and don’t deserve? - Wait a minute!
Wait a goddamn...
April, now you listen to me.
This is one time
you're not gonna get away with twisting everything that I say, April.
This just happen to be one goddamn time.
I know I'm not the wrong here.
Christ, I wish you’d stayed home tonight!
You know what you are, why you are like this, April?
You’re sick.
I really mean that. You’re sick!
And you know what you are?
What?
- You’re disgusting. - Oh yeah?
You don't bully me, Frank.
Just because you’ve got me safely in this little trap,
you think you can bully me into feeling whatever you want!
- In a trap! You in a trap! - Yeah. Yeah.
- Jesus! - Me, Frank. Me!
Don't make me laugh.
Pathetic self-deluded little boy.
Look at you!
Look at you and tell me,
how by any stretch of the imagination
you can call yourself a man!
What?
Damn!
Oh, Jesus Christ!
Don’t look at me like that, April.
Could we please go home now?
Daily News.
Yes, thanks, sir.
Daily News. Thank you.
Fifteenth floor.
I’m going to need your help this morning, Old Scout.
For the next few hours, you’re to warn me of Bandy’s every approach
and you may need to shield me from public view in the likely event
that I void my stomach.
It’s that bad.
Morning, Jack.
Nothing good about it, I assure you.
Of course, I knew the moment you stepped off the train what you were looking for...
A small remodeled barn, or a carriage house.
And I just hate to be the one to tell you
that sort of thing just isn’t available anymore...
But I don’t want you to despair.
There is one place up here I wanna show you...
Now of course it isn’t very desirable at this end.
As you see, Crawford Road is mostly these little
cinder-blocky, pick-up trucky places.
Plumbers, carpenters, little local people of that sort.
But eventually...
Eventually it leads up to Revolutionary Road,
which is much nicer.
Now, the place I want to show you, is a sweet little house
and a sweet little setting.
Simple, clean lines,
good lawns, marvelous for children.
It’s just around this next curve...
Now, you’ll see it.
There.
See the little white one?
Sweet, isn’t it?
The perky way it sits there on its little slope?
Charming, isn’t it?
Oh, yes.
You wanted to see me?
Came for you from Toledo this morning. This is the third one this month.
- Sorry. I thought I’d taken care... - I’m not prepared to have this...
this conversation again, Frank. You understand?
- I was literally just gettin... - These folks in the provinces look up to us.
We need to be efficient. We can’t have this kind of back and forth, and so forth.
It’s just not efficient.
Am I right?
Yes.
What was that about?
Toledo.
Branch manager wants a revised brochure for the conference on The Knox 500.”
It’s just not efficient. ” Am I right? Am I right? Am I right?
Sounds like a goodie.
For God's sake. I don’t even know what the Knox 500 does... Do you?
Don’t insult me.
if you’ll look in the inactive file under SP-1109.
you’ll find copies of all the stuff we sent to the agency..
and that way we can trace the thing back to its...
To its original sources.
I hope you weren’t planning on having an early lunch.
No.
I’m not really hungry.
Good. I’ll check on you later. All right?
Okay.
You know something, Maureen?
You’re lucky you met me.
Oh? How's that?
I think I can show you the ropes, you know.
There’s certain art to survival at Knox.
Really.
Let me show you what I mean.
Waiter.
Bring me the telephone would you? And two more martinis.
Clondike 55566, please.
Hello Mrs. Jorgensen.
Frank Wheeler here.
Yes. I just wanted to let you know,
that I’ve had to send Maureen Grube
down to Visual Aides for me.
I’ll probably need her the rest of the afternoon.
Yes.
You too.
Take care now.
I've never even heard of Visual Aides.
That’s because...
It doesn’t exist.
Hi, Helen.
Come on in.
Oh, I can’t stay a minute...
I just wanted to bring this sedum plantings
for that messy patch down by the front of the drive.
It's like the European house league
Only these have the most marvelous little yellow blossoms.
Now all it wants for the first few day is just a tiny dollop of water
and you’ll find it absolutely thrives.
Oh. Thank you, Helen. It's so kind of you.
Would you like some coffee?
Is there something I can do for you, Helen?
Oh... I almost forgot.
There's a small favor I’d like to ask...
It's about...
It's about my son, John.
He’s been in the hospital.
Oh, I'm sorry. Is everything all right?
Well, actually...
It's just for the time being. He's in... Pleasant Brook.
Psychiatric.
Oh.
Oh, I see.
Oh... Nothing serious.
He's just got a little run down.
Things can just get the better of us sometimes.
Don't you agree?
Yes.
Of course.
It's a marvellous facility.
And the treatments seem to be doing wonders for him...
Anyway, they said getting him out for an afternoon
might do him a little bit good.
I think he finds my friends a little conventional, quite frankly
I mean, he’s travelled.
He has a PhD in mathematics.
I suppose you could say he’s an intellectual.
It would do him a world of good to meet a young couple like you.
We'd love to meet him.
Really?
Yes.
We'd love to.
Thank you, dear.
Thank you.
Well...
I must be off.
I remember the first day you came off the train.
You weren’t like my other clients.
You were different.
You just seemed...
Special...
Of course you still are.
Remember...
Just a dollop ...
Bye.
I think you got me a little drunk.
You know what today is?
...Monday?
It’s my birthday.
I’m thirty years old today.
Happy birthday!
Thank you.
What was the name of that, um...
department you made up again?
Visual...
Visual Aides.
...What-a-joke.
What-a-joke.
Oh my...
Do you wanna hear a real joke...?
Yes.
My old man worked at Knox.
Yeah?
He was a salesman in Yonkers.
Oh.
Once a year,
he used to take me to the city for lunch.
It was supposed to be a very special, life-advice sort of occasion.
Nice.
No.
Not really.
I used to sit there and think.
"I hope to Christ I don’t end up like you. "
Now here I am,
a thirty year old Knox man.
Can you beat that?
I think I kind of lost you...
Your father worked for Knox...?
I'm sorry. Everything’s kinda...
...going out of focus
Why don't we get some air?
You with me?
Is this you?
Yeah.
You've been to Paris?
I’ve never really been anywhere.
Maybe I’ll take you with me then.
I’m going back first chance I get.
I tell you.
People are alive there.
Not like here.
All I know April is...
I wanna feel things.
Really feel them.
You know?
How’s that for an ambition...?
Frank Wheeler?
I think you’re the most interesting person
I’ve ever met.
Guess this wasn’t what you had in mind when you went to work this morning, huh?
No. It really wasn't.
Do you have a cigarette, Frank?
Yeah, sure.
There you go.
Can I get you a drink or anything?
No thanks, Maureen. Actually it's...
It’s getting kind of late. I guess I...
I guess I’d better be cutting out.
Oh. Gee.
That's right.
Did you miss your train?
That’s all right.
I’ll catch the next one.
Listen,
you were swell.
Take care now.
Frank...
Why are you all dressed up?
First of all,
I missed you all day
and I wanna say I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for the way I’ve been since that stupid play.
I’m sorry for everything.
And I love you.
For the rest of life.
Now, you...
Just wait here till I call you. Okay?
Okay.
Alright Frank!
You can come in now!
"Happy Birthday to you. "
"Happy Birthday dear Daddy. "
"Happy Birthday to you. "
Happy Birthday, Darling.
I love you, daddy.
I love you too.
Frank.
I have had the most wonderful idea.
I’ve been thinking about it all day.
Baby, what’s all this about?
You know how much money we have saved...?
Enough to live on for six months without you earning another dime.
And with the money we could get from the house and the car, longer than that.
What we get for the house...
Sweetheart, what are you talking about?
Where are we going to live?
Paris.
What?
You always said it was the only place
you’d ever been, that you wanna to go back to.
The only place that was worth living.
So why don’t we go there?
You’re serious?
Yes.
What’s stopping us?
Well, I can think of a number of different things.
For example, what kind of a job could I possibly get?
You won’t be getting any kind of job,
because I will.
Oh, right. Right.
Don’t laugh at me.
Listen to me.
Do you know what they pay
for secretarial positions in the government agencies in Europe?
No. I don't.
Listen Frank, I’m serious about this.
- Do you think I’m kidding or something? - Okay.
I just have a couple of questions, that's all.
For one thing, what exactly am I supposed to be doing
while you’re out earning all this money?
Don’t you see,
that’s the whole idea?
You’ll be doing what you should’ve been allowed to do seven years ago.
You’ll have time.
For the first time in your life you’ll have time to find out
what it is that you actually want to do,
and when you figure it out,
you’ll have the time and the freedom...
to start doing it.
Sweetheart,
it’s just not very realistic, is all.
No, Frank.
This is what's unrealistic.
It’s unrealistic for a man with a fine mind to go on working
year after year at a job he can’t stand,
coming home to a place he can’t stand,
to a wife who’s equally unable to stand the same things.
You want to know the worst part?
Our whole existence here is based on this great premise,
that we’re... special...
and superior to the whole thing.
But we're not.
We’re just like everyone else.
Look at us! We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion.
This idea that you have to resign from life
and settle down the moment you have children.
And we’ve been punishing each other for it.
Listen,
we decided to move out here.
No one ever forced me to take the job at Knox.
I mean who ever said I was meant to be a big deal, anyway?
When I first met you...
there was nothing in the world you couldn’t do or be.
When you first met me, I was a little wise guy with a big mouth.
- That's all. - You were not.
How can you even say that?
Okay.
Okay, so...
I'll have time.
And God knows that’s appealing. It's...
It’s very appealing.
Everything you say make sense if...
If I had definite talent. If I were a writer or an artist...
Listen.
Listen to me.
It’s what you are that’s being stifled.
It’s what you are that’s being denied and denied,
in this kind of life.
And what’s that?
Don’t you know...?
You’re the most beautiful
and wonderful thing in the world...
You’re a man.
This is our chance, Frank
This is our one chance.
Okay.
Okay?
Why not?
Why the hell not?
All right.
All right. All right.
We're going to be fine.
Morning all.
Morning, Frank.
Ah, Franklin. Good to see your shining face.
What's the news.
Fellas...
I’m moving to Paris.
Indeed. And I’m moving to Tangiers.
...Intra-company letter to Toledo...
Attention...
B.F. Chalmers, branch manager...
With regard to recent and repeated correspondence,
this is to advise that the matter has been...
very satisfactorily taken in hand, period, paragraph.
We wholly agree that the existing brochure is unsuitable.
To this end we have developed quote...
"Speaking of Production Control... "
Here you are Mrs. Wheeler:
Here’s the travellers checks you requested...
and your steamer reservations...
and these I’ll pass on to the embassy for you.
Good luck.
Thank you.
September. October at the outside.
I just happen to think people are better off doing some kind of work
they actually like.
Right, right, yes.
I mean, assuming there is a true vocation waiting for you.
Wouldn’t you be just as likely to discover it here as there?
I don’t think it’s possible to discover anything
on the fifteenth floor of the Knox building,
and I don’t think any of you do either.
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...
Daddy?
Michael...
Daddy, will you read it?
Yes.
...All the way to... here.
We have to take a big boat ride across the sea to get there.
But I won’t know anybody there.
Oh, I know.
I know. Neither will I.
But remember how you fell when you started school?
And now look how many friends you have...
You’ll never guess what they eat in Paris.
You'll never guess...
- What? - What?
Slimy snails.
Snails?!
Slimy snails and eating frog’s legs!
Milly?
Where are you, doll?
Oh, you'd better get changed, they’ll be here soon.
That what you're wearing?
Don't you like it?
Yeah.
You look great, doll.
Guess I better haul ass.
Hey kids. What time it is?
Hiya gang.
It's two thousands, two hundred...
What you're watching?
Starring Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob.
Shep?
I was calling and calling you...
Hi.
Here we go.
Some little something.
Oh those look great. I’m starving!
April...
I can't get over it -
you look like the cat that ate the canary!
Do you have something to tell us?
Just a little bit of news?
Well, actually Milly, we...
We do have some important news. Yes.
I knew it.
Honey, why don't you tell them?
We’re going to Europe.
To Paris.
To live.
What?
When?
In September.
But what for?
What for? Well...
Well, because...
Because we’ve always wanted to. Because the kids are young enough.
Because it’s beautiful. I mean really.
I mean, Shep, you've been there. You tell her.
Yeah. It's a great city.
Yeah.
When did you make this decision?
About a week ago... it’s hard to remember.
We just suddenly decided to go, that’s all.
About a week ago, and you tell us now!
Yeah. We had to get used to the idea.
So, what’s the deal, Frank? You get a job over there, or what?
No, no.
Not exactly.
What do you mean, "not exactly?"
Frank won’t be getting any kind of a job,
because I will.
So what are you gonna do, Frank?
I’m gonna study, you know...
I'm gonna read...
I suppose I’m gonna...
finally figure out what I wanna do with my life, Shep.
...While she supports you?
Yes.
While she supports me...
In the beginning.
You wouldn’t believe what they pay for secretarial work
in those government agencies over there.
NATO and E.C.A. and those places.
The cost of living is dirt cheap, right?
So cheap.
The truth is we just need something different.
We’re not getting any younger and we don’t want life to just pass us by.
That's right.
Gee, it sounds wonderful, kids.
I mean it.
It really sounds wonderful.
Thank you, Milly. Thank you.
We’ll certainly miss you, though - won’t we, sweetie?
- Golly. - Sure.
We'll miss you too.
- Of course. - Sure.
We should have a toast or something.
To Paris.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
You know what I think?
What?
I think this whole plan sounds a little immature.
Oh God, I’m so relieved.
Me too...
I was thinking that the whole time.
I mean, what kind of man is gonna sit around
in his bathrobe all day, picking his nose
- while his wife goes out and works? - I don't know, Shep.
I just don't know.
Why're you crying?
What's the matter?
It's nothing.
I'm just so relieved.
Shep.
Don't cry. Please.
It’s all right.
Everything's gonna be all right.
Okay.
Oh my god, their faces!
Oh God!
You know what this is like, April? Honestly.
Just talking like this?
The whole idea of going off to Europe this way?
This is the way I felt going up to the line the first time,
in the war.
I mean. I was probably just as scared as everyone else, but...
But inside I never felt better.
I felt...
I felt alive. I felt full of blood.
I felt...
Everything just...
Everything seemed more real. The guys in their uniforms.
The snow on the fields, the trees. And all of us...
All of us just... walking.
I mean I was scared of course, but
I just kept thinking: this is it.
You know?
This is the truth.
I felt that way once too.
When?
First time you made love to me.
All right, April.
What's up?
Bart Pollock's here.
He’s in Bandy’s office.
Big deal, huh?
Looks like he wants to talk to you.
Hey...
Keep my name out of it.
Frank.
Good to see you.
You know Bart Pollock?
Well, we never met, but...
- Of course I... - Good to know you, Frank.
Speaking of production control?
Frank...
This is a crackerjack.
They’re just tickled to death in Toledo.
Really?
So this guy Pollock was perfect Presidential material in the worst sense.
A million dollar smile and about three pounds of muscle between his ears.
April, you should've heard this guy.
"Frank, this is a crackerjack. "
What a horse’s ass.
Wish I've seen his face when you told him you were leaving.
Yeah.
Here they come.
- Sorry to be late. - You’re not late.
The traffic was terrible.
- You didn’t have to do that. - Good to see you.
- Wasn’t it terrible, Howard?
Route 12.
About the time they finish that stretch of road,
they’ll have to start all over again, right?
And you must be John?
Say hello, John.
Nice to meetcha.
Heard a lot aboutcha.
Where are your darling children?
They’re at a birthday party.
Sorry they couldn’t be here.
Don’t worry. If I had a certified lunatic coming around my house,
I’d probably get the kids out of the way too.
Look at all this food!
You didn’t have to go to any trouble for us.
It’s just some sandwiches.
John, would you like a sandwich?
Helen’s been talking it up about you people for months.
The nice young Wheelers on Revolutionary Road,
the nice young revolutionaries on Wheeler road.
Would anyone like some Sherry?
Please, don’t bother Frank.
I’d like some sherry.
And I’ll drink Helen’s too.
if she doesn’t beat me to it.
Oh, hey... You got a high-ball glass...?
Put a couple-three ice cubes in it,
pour it up to the brim.
That’s the way I like it.
I think I can handle that.
This egg salad is delicious, April.
You must tell me how you fix it.
You a lawyer Frank?
No.
No, I’m not.
I could use a lawyer.
John, let’s not get started again about the lawyer.
Pop, couldn’t you just sit there and eat your wonderful egg salad,
and quit horning in?
See...
I’ve got a good many questions to ask
and I’m willing to pay for the answers...
Now, I don’t need to be told that a man
who goes after his mother with a coffee table is
putting himself in a weak position legally; that’s obvious.
John, come and have a look out this fabulous picture window.
If he hits her with it and kills her, that’s a criminal case.
Oh, look, the sun’s coming out!
If all he does is break the coffee table and give her a certain amount of aggravation
and she decides to go to court over it, that’s a civil case.
Maybe we’ll have a rainbow!
- John, come have a look. - Ma, how about doing everybody a favor?
How about shutting up!
Settle down, now.
Maybe I can look into it.
Recommend someone. What you say?
So...
What do you do, Frank?
I work for Knox Business Machines factory.
You design the machines?
Nope.
Make 'em, sell 'em, repair 'em?
All these questions.
I help sell them, I guess I...
I work in the office.
Actually, it's...
It's a sort of a stupid job really. There's...
nothing interesting about it at all.
Whaddya do it for then?
Maybe Frank doesn’t like to be questioned like this...
Okay, okay. Okay.
I know it’s none of my business.
And besides,
I know the answer.
You want to play house, you got to have a job.
You want to play very nice house,
very sweet house,
then you got to have a job you don’t like.
Anyone comes along and says "Whaddya do it for?"
He’s probably on a four-hour pass from the State funny farm.
All agreed..?
Ma..?
Sorry Frank.
No. Don’t be.
Don’t be.
Actually, John, I agree with... everything you just said.
We both do. That’s why I’m quitting the job in the fall. We're...
We’re taking off.
We’re moving to Paris.
Did you know about this, Ma...?
Wow.
How do you feel about that, Ma?
"The nice young Wheelers. "
The nice young Wheelers.
Are taking off!
John, please.
Steady down, son.
John.
John!
How about some fresh air, what you say?
If that’s all right with you?
I don’t know if it's such a good idea.
...If John wants to, I don’t see the harm.
Good.
Do you..?
I hear you’re a mathematician.
You hear wrong.
It’s all gone now.
All gone?
You know what electrical shock treatments are?
Yes. Yes I do.
I’ve had thirty-seven.
Supposed to jolt out the "Emotional Problems. "
Just jolted out the mathematics.
How awful.
"How awful... "
Why?
Because mathematics is so "interesting?"
No. Because the shocks must be awful and...
Well, because it’s awful not to be able to do what it is you want to do.
I think mathematics must be dull.
I like your girl, Frank.
Me too.
So, what do a couple of people like you have to run away from?
We’re not running.
So what’s in Paris?
A different way of life.
Maybe we are running...
We’re running from the hopeless emptiness of the whole life here, right?
The hopeless emptiness?
Now, you’ve said it.
Plenty of people are on to the emptiness, but...
it takes real guts to see the hopelessness...
Wow.
You know,
he’s the first person who seemed to know what we were talking about.
Well...
That’s true, isn't it?
Maybe we are just as crazy as he is.
If being crazy means...
living life as it matters
then I don’t care if we are completely insane.
Do you?
No.
I love you so much.
Tell you something, Frank.
That Ted Bundy,
nice guy,
real sport.
Getting department head and all.
I’m a little sore at the way he’s kept you under a bushel all these years.
This place okay, for you?
Oh, it's just fine, sir.
Just fine.
One thing interests me, Frank, and one thing only:
selling the electronic computer to the American businessman...
That’s why I’m assembling a team.
Men like you,
not your average salesmen...
It will mean more money,
and I got to be honest, maybe more of a time commitment,
but you’ll be a part of something exciting, Wheeler...
Computers.
Well, sir...
It sounds exciting.
Bart!
Bart...
Bart, let me ask you a question.
Do you happen to remember an Earl Wheeler?
Out of Yonkers?
Can’t say that I do.
Relation of yours?
My father.
He worked as a salesman for Knox almost twenty years.
Earl Wheeler...
There's no reason you would remember.
Well, I’m sure he was a good man.
Listen, Bart, there is...
There’s something I should have mentioned earlier...
I’m gonna be leaving the firm. In the fall.
Another outfit?
No. No, it's not another outfit.
Now look, Frank.
Is it a question of money?
Because if it is, there’s no reason we can’t get together on a satisfactory-
Oh. I appreciate that, but no, it's...
It’s not the money. It's...
Well, it's more...
more of personal thing.
I hope you understand.
A personal thing?
I see.
Frank, let me tell you something my father told me...
A man only gets a couple of chances in life.
If he doesn’t grab ‘em by the balls, it won’t be long before
he sitting around wondering how he got to be second rate.
I guess so.
So, do me a favour...
Sleep on it.
Discuss it with your wife.
Because let’s be honest: where the hell would any of us be without our wives, anyway?
And Frank, in all sincerity, if you do decide to join us,
I believe it’ll be a thing you’ll never regret.
And I believe something else, too.
I believe it’d be a fine memorial to your Dad.
Think about it Frank.
Really think about it.
Knowing what you’ve got,
comma,
knowing what you need,
comma,
Knowing what you can do without,
dash.
That’s inventory control.
Knowing what you’ve got,
comma,
knowing what you need,
comma,
Knowing what you can do without,
dash.
That’s inventory control.