By Lars Trodson
I had finished reading Richard Yates' 'Revolutionary Road' because of the way it been described in movie reviews, and I was intrigued. I also wanted to see the movie. I had mixed feelings about the book - very sad, with little pity for almost anyone in it -- but I'll save that for another time. But I still wanted to see the movie.
Anyway, this Saturday, after New Year's, I figured I had the time to see it. So I checked out the local movie times, and I couldn't find it. I looked at the Strand, in Dover, not there, either. It was nowhere to be found.
Now, I was certain the movie had been released because I had seen Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio on TV promoting it -- that's what you do when the movie comes out, right?
Then I looked at box office figures, thinking, oddly, that maybe the movie just tanked. I didn't think that could be so, but I thought I would check anyway. I read on a movie site that the film had grossed just under $400,000 -- oh, my, I thought. But then I saw that it had been released to just 38 theaters.
Huh?
And then I came across this piece in the New York Times, and everything became clear. Well, not clear. It's just that things were explained to me.
It's too bad, because maybe when 'Revolutionary Road' finally hits Portsmouth I'll no longer be in the mood to see it.
Here's the piece:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/movies/awardsseason/31plat.html?_r=1
