Review of Metroland (1997) by James B — 04 Feb 2007

I am a huge fan of Christian Bale, in fact he is my favorite actor off all time, but like I've said before his performances are usually better than the movie. And Metroland is no exception, the film, although it has good intentions, ultimately fails to resonate with the audience by not being blunt enough with the subject matter. I mean who wouldn't be afraid of responsibilities that come along with marriage and children? These are all understandable emotions that the film seems to present but later seems to shy away from as if it doesn't care anymore. It presents a good premise, Christian Bale plays Chris, a young thirty year old who has been married for a couple of years and made a quaint home for his family in his hometown, which he vowed never to come back. He receives a call in the middle of the night, from an old friend Tony, who shared the same views about life as Chris, when they were younger.

Chris has moved on with his life, and matured, but Tony doesn't seem to wanna grow up, ever. Instead he wants to bring Chris down with him, so he can have a friend while he goes on his journey to emptiness and despair. The acting isn't terrible, in all fairness it's the high point of the film and argueably the only reason to see this movie in the first place, but on the other hand, the erotically arousing sex scenes, which are profuse could be another and justifiable reason as well. Overall an uninteresting look at bliss during an interesting period of time and an interesting view of the past during a turbulent marriage.

:rotten: 1.5/4 stars.