Metropolitan (1990)

A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up.

Director:

Whit Stillman

Writer:

Whit Stillman

Stars:

Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carolyn Farina	...	Audrey Rouget
Edward Clements	...	Tom Townsend
Chris Eigeman	...	Nick Smith (as Christopher Eigeman)
Taylor Nichols	...	Charlie Black
Allison Parisi	...	Jane Clarke
Dylan Hundley	...	Sally Fowler
Isabel Gillies	...	Cynthia McLean
Bryan Leder	...	Fred Neff
Will Kempe	...	Rick Von Sloneker
Ellia Thompson	...	Serena Slocum (as Elizabeth Thompson)
Stephen Uys	...	Victor Lemley
Roger W. Kirby	...	Man at Bar
Alice Connorton	...	Mrs. Townsend
Linda Gillies	...	Mrs. Rouget
John Lynch	...	Allen Green (as John Lynch)

Storyline

In an apartment on Manhattan a couple of friends from the New York upper-class meet almost every night to talk about social mobility, play bridge and discuss Fourier's socialism; the cynic Nick, the philosophical Charlie, party girl Sally and austenite Audrey. They are joined by Tom. His background is much simpler and he is critical of their way of life. But he finds a soul mate in Audrey, who without his knowledge falls in love with him.

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Plot Keywords:

upper class | new york city | debutante | socialite | aristocracy | 

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Taglines:

Finally... A film about the downwardly mobile.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Azok a New York-i báléjszakák

Filming Locations:

Cornwall, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$225,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,938,208 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Westerly Films, Allagash Films, Westerly Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clements, who played Tom Townsend, only acted in one more movie. He became a born-again Christian after the film and is now a pastor in Toronto.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mrs. Rouget: You can't listen to what your younger brother has to say. I can't think of anyone less an authority of female anatomy.
Audrey Rouget: He can see... It's hideous.
Mrs. Rouget: No, it isn't. You're being very subjective. You know, there was a survey of girls your age some years ago and nearly all of them were convinced that either their behinds, or their noses, were grotesquely oversized. And there was no apparent correlation between this conviction and their actual size.
Audrey Rouget: Really? They did a survey of that?
Mrs. Rouget: Yes....

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Connections

Referenced in The Last Days of Disco (1998)

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Soundtracks

I Need Love
Performed by Barbara Mason
Stilrun-Dandelion Music - BMI
Courtesy of Arctic Records

User Reviews

A small treasure with real staying power

I can say this film has staying power as I've seen it about half a dozen times in the 12 years since it came out; the most recent occasion was a week ago, and it still holds up, like a great play. It's all in the dialogue and acting: Stillman's idea of an action scene is someone opening a champagne bottle a little over-enthusiastically.

The characters are beautifully drawn, none of them perfect, none of them without some redeeming features. They seem very believable to an outsider from England. The dialogue is a never-ending delight, full of great one-liners, yes, but also some equally cherishable, marvellously pompous sermonising and theorising from these slightly preposterous yet strangely loveable people (particularly Charlie Black). It's not exactly a comedy, but I laughed out loud a lot more than I have in some films that have been trying desperately hard to make me titter.

For me the great mystery is this: whatever happened to this fine young cast?? Edward Clements has done virtually nothing since this film, ditto Carolyn Farina (apart from a small part in Age of Innocence); likewise Eigeman and Nichols, although the former seems to have racked up a few more credits, and the latter was in Boiler Room, although I didn't realise it was him until the credits rolled.

If you need action and plot, this film probably isn't for you. But anyone else can dive in and and enjoy a genuinely independent film that shows what can be done on limited resources. This film is worth more in my heart than the combined works of Joel Schumacher, Don Simpson and their tiresome, overblown ilk.