- Actors: Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Lee Ross, Elsa Zylberstein, John Wood
- Directors: Philip Saville
- Format: Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC
- Language English, French
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Universal Home Video
- DVD Release Date: 28 Mar 2000
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0000648YK
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 109,574 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
If you want to know the inner workings of a happily married (although sometimes bored) middle-aged man, this is the film for you. Expertly played by Christian Bale (in a role that demands discipline and sensitivity), Chris Lloyd looks back on his life exploring what could have happened if he'd made different choices in life. With the help of flashbacks we discover his sexy French girlfriend Annick (Elysa Zylberstein)and his reckless best friend Toni (Lee Ross). Whilst he laments the loss of his youth, his wife, Marion (Emily Watson), can only stand by him. The reappearance of Toni (along with a hilarious scene at a punk gig) forces Chris to re-examine his life. A sexy, sad and funny film all at once. This is definatlely not one to miss.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
An intriguing film that leaves you wondering if it was anti-bourgeious and pro-bourgeious.
Personally, i always stop it before it reaches the end because although i love this film and it is one of my favourites, the ending really disappoints me with its lack of inspiration.
But still a very cool film.
However, i recommend renting this before buying it, so you know what it's like.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Fairly interesting look at the married life.
1 Feb 2002
Format:DVD
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?
"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A Responsible Dream
13 May 2001
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.
A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.
By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."
"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
The grass is greener
9 May 2002
Format:DVD
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.
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