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 & 9 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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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Metropolitan

Filming Locations:

Cornwall, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$225,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,938,208

Company Credits

Production Co:

Westerly Films, Allagash Films, Producciones Kaplan S.L.

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

Features The Yule Log (1966)

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Soundtracks

Dry Your Eyes
Performed by Brenda and the Tabulations
Bee Cool Music - BMI
Courtesy of Diona Records

User Reviews

Metropolitan? I'm for it!

What a very different way to look at people...or, what a different group of characters to focus a movie on would be putting it better. Stillman took the snobby 'debutants' of upper Manhattan and made a movie about what they talk about. I personally found 2 kinds of humor in this movie...I laughed with the characters, and laughed at them. Can a group be this funny and be serious? It was very intelligent the way this movie had me listening, listening, laughing...quick cut to another scene and start over again. I have to admit that the acting was something of a humor in itself, as was the frayed ending, but all in all a very enjoyable movie.

I wish I could say more about it, but for some reason watching this, 'Barcelona', and 'Last Days of Disco' has left me a little wordless...I wouldn't be surprised to find that every word in the Webster's Dictionary was used between the three. But kudos to Stillman for doing it right.