Saw this last night. Thought it was pretty good. One of DeCaprio's better performances, actually, and probably one of Winslet's most impressive as well. I don't think either of them were miscast. It's certainly not a brilliant concept, nor is it particularly subtle, but it's interesting as a film, because it's a completey unsubtle movie which often features a lot of subtleties to the acting performances. There's a great piece of acting toward the end where Decaprio is screaming, about as enraged as an actor can get, and for a few scant seconds, he breaks down into these seizure-like sobs like a small child in the middle of it, and then goes right back to being angry. This was a joy to watch because of the performances. I wouldn't exactly call this "pedestrian", but it's true that it doesn't take too many risks in the direction or tell us anything we don't know. And yeah, the themes in it have been touched on before (what hasn't?). You have to essentially look at it from the point of view of people in 1955 for the story elements to have much impact at all, and the story isn't anything amazing. It's a very small, personal film. But overall, it's a well crafted film, albeit a safe one, although there are some hiccups toward the end, where Winslet sounds like she's reading her "preachy" lines. I thought the chemistry between DeCaprio and Winslet was phenomenal, far beyond anything they displayed in TITANIC. The supporting cast is also very good. The music was a bit reminiscent of...well, everything else Thomas Newman has ever done, but very good nontheless. I thought that Michael Shannon stole the show and was very funny in a limited role, and Kathy Bates was also fantastic in a smaller part. I suspect Dylan Baker's accent was to cover up the fact that his character was boring and mostly useless. I did sort of wonder where the Wheeler's kids went to during the film, as they were only in about two scenes. It's a depressing movie, to be sure, but I came out of it looking at it as more of a cautionary tale that made some statements about conformity. The ending, where Kathy Bates is petting the cutest dog you'll ever see, and talking to her husband, and what comes of that, is great.