Review of Metropolitan (1990) by Roger P — 23 Sep 2011

This witty and sophisticated film is a sort of cross between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Woody Allen. Set in the pre-laptop, pre-mobile phone, pre-SMS era of the late 1980s or early 1990s (I'm not sure which) in upper middle class Manhattan, it is a benevolent satire on the pretensions and vanities of a group of mostly wealthy young people in their early to mid-20s.

They call themselves the Sally Fowler Rat Pack and meet regularly (indeed nightly) to chew the cud and to put the world to rights. Into their group comes an outsider (who professes to be a radical socialist who hates everything that the group stands for but who agrees to participate in its meetings to make up the male numbers).

In fact, he is not as much of an outsider as he likes to believe. A female member of the group - a sensitive Jane Austen groupie - becomes romantically attracted to him and the second half of the film is primarily about their relationship.

"Metropolitan" is plot light and dialogue heavy. But it is none the worse for that. There are some very funny lines and observations, my favourite being "The Surrealists were all a bunch of social climbers"! The acting (I have never seen any of the stars in anything else) is first class, as is the script.

This is a very entertaining film. Worth watching. 8/10.