Metropolitan [VHS]

Metropolitan [VHS]
by Whit Stillman

Metropolitan [VHS]

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Category: VHS Video
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Product details

Actor: Allison Parisi, Carolyn Farina, Chris Eigeman, Edward Clements, Taylor Nichols
Director: Whit Stillman
Cinematographer: John Thomas
Writer: Whit Stillman
Editor: Christopher Tellefsen
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 98 minutes
Release Date: 1996-03-26
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: New Line Cinema
Studio: New Line Cinema

VHS Movie Reviews of Metropolitan [VHS]

Movie Review: Highbrow Character Study and Drama
Summary: 4 Stars

Started off as a lot of verbal bluster and parrying, but the characters seemed to grow more attractive and the plot more interesting over time. Yet, the setting and storyline seem somewhat farfetched in that it's difficult to imagine that young people this brilliant, empathetic, intellectual, rich and astute actually exist in real life. Or maybe I've been hanging out in the wrong circles. Bottom line--viewers attracted to highbrow drama and character studies will eat this film up.

Movie Review: coming of age for Manhattan upper middles
Summary: 4 Stars

I got an urge to get Mansfield Park about half way through this
film. What struck me was hearing a clearly snobbish upper middle girl saying she didn't like snobs: that kind of thing makes it a comedy.
The two guys who become friends at the end because they share
a love for the same really nice girl is touching and funny.
A manners comedy set in a relatively modern 70's or 80's
Manhattan among college students that shows that the more things change, the more they remain the same?

Movie Review: Top Hat Man
Summary: 5 Stars

The heroine of Stillman's micro-peek, Manhattan preppies, she enjoys Jane Austin. Therefore, it is fitting that musings about relationships are mostly in stodgy wasp fantasy, harking to the 19th Century. In addition, these boys and gals have a bowtie existence, a sub strata concept that has worked for a long time. The more experimental might have a fling with a Long Island count or a Jew record executive, but discretion please. When they marry, well, within their bridge circle I'm sure.

If I give the impression that outsiders, just about everybody, wouldn't enjoy the Vassar quasi-intellectualism of youth, you would be wrong, for the subject is handled with love. These kids are sensitive, cocktail in gloved hand, their parent's divorce, impossible expectations, the looming failure discourse of the boys, all to be handled sometime in the future with aplomb. Don't ask an older prep what he does. It's unbearable to discuss their lowly profession.

Stillman is a true genius, projecting the character of brilliant, tortured wit, Nick, (Christopher Elgman), a cynic with cutting observation, and possibly he is often right. The boy wears a top hat like most wear a baseball cap. Stillman is creating something from what he knows, a series of debutant parties and interrelationships, amusing attitudes, these birds are rare exotics.

Movie Review: A very natural, very enlightening climb up the social ladder...
Summary: 5 Stars

Whit Stillman's film `Metropolitan' comes off like a wicked mix of Woody Allen and Robert Altman, making art out of general conversation and allowing us, the audience, to relate wholly to the situation by keeping everything grounded and within our grasp. Nothing happens within this film that could not or would not happen in reality, and that makes the concept and the end result all the more interesting. There are times where the film seems to be about nothing at all, which may be what makes the film so endearing. We become fascinated with the general conversation of these individuals, the whole time wondering what it is all really about, and then it hits us that the film is an exploration of youth in general and it's through these conversations that we get to dissect their lives.

So the film focuses on a group of upper-class socialites who find their clique infiltrated by the middle-class Tom. Tom is admittedly turned off by the needless parties these socialites entertain, and thus he immediately becomes entertaining to the higher-class preppies who find his viewpoints on their engagements fascinating. As the two worlds come together through interaction they realize that they are not so different after all. They know the same people, they read the same books; in fact it is only a social title that differentiates one from the other.

The film sheds light on the attitudes that propel these young adults through their lives as we see subtle yet powerful messages sent between parties. As young Audrey expresses her desire to court the outsider Tom we get to see just how the line between class distinctions does not mean there is a line between class in general.

The script may very well be my favorite script of 1990, maybe even the 90's in general (although that is probably pushing it a bit). It is smart and witty and insightful if one is really paying attention, and the cast of characters is truly diverse and interesting.

Each and every actor here really does a fine job of elevating the script, especially Christopher Eigeman who plays the devilishly sincere Nick Smith. His portrayal of your typical preppie is so deep-seated and authentic that he makes you feel as though you are standing right next to him, having each scene feel as though it was cut from your own reality. His charisma and charm are undeniable and his delivery is smooth as butter. Carolyn Farina is also wonderful as the tragically underappreciated Audrey, and Edward Clements soars as the outsider Tom. His watchful eye is felt throughout every frame as he takes in his acquaintances and silently judges them, never once looking at himself to see how he should be judged.

If you are a fan of Altman or Allen then this is a film for you, for it is just as witty, just as conversational and just as natural as either of the aforementioned director's bodies of work. The film may not appeal to everyone; well, it will not appeal to everyone. If you are wanting a briskly paced drama or a high octane thriller then you are looking in the wrong place, but if you are wanting a well developed and smart character study that will hold your attention despite its lack of real drama then this is the perfect film for you.

Movie Review: What's the point?
Summary: 3 Stars

While an interesting genre exercise, plot got lost somewhere between weird concept, casting and stilted dialogue. Not sure how 'realistic' this is. It's set in the mid-70s, based on the cars, not the early '60s, as some have incorrectly posited. At least it's short.

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Summary of Metropolitan [VHS]

Whit Stillman (Barcelona, Last Days of Disco) enters Woody Allen territory in his talky yet articulate debut, creating a stinging expos? of self-important upper-class socialites and the head games they play, during their Christmas vacation in Manhattan. Witty and cynical, Stillman captures this odd subculture with sly observation and occasional sympathy--sort of a fascinating anthropological study of adolescent preppies. His young subjects, spoiled by their silver spoons, still lack life experience and, thus, emotional maturity or social grace. They pass time idly discussing Jane Austen (a tip of the hat to the master of social-manner comedies), Marxism, and other philosophies, dressing up for parties and undressing during strip poker, and gossiping about the romantic pairings for the upcoming debutante ball. Stillman smartly offers up Tom (Edward Clements), a middle-class loner who's slowly adopted into the clique, as an audience identification reference, making the events seem even stranger and funnier from his point of view. But Tom's far from perfect himself. As the innocent, easily manipulated Audrey (Carolyn Farina) begins to fall in love with him, Tom's boorish, hurtful responses make him appear as juvenile as the rest. Concurrently, it also jolts the group with a much-needed taste of reality, and the film with unpredictable poignancy, suggesting that at least one may grow from the experience. In his first opportunity as director, Stillman pulls wonderful performances from his unknown cast. Especially memorable are Christopher Eigeman as the sarcastically perceptive snob, Nick, and Taylor Nichols playing the philosophical, anxiety-ridden Charlie. --Dave McCoy

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