METROPOLITAN
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: An outsider gets involved with the tinder of the vanities, a clique of young, chic, semi- intellectuals who talk like the ATLANTIC MONTHLY but whose lives are just as mis-managed as anyone else's. Walt Stillman's dialogue is the main reason to see METROPOLITAN. Rating: +1.
There is a separate sort of film I think you would have to call "the dialogue film." It is a concept parallel to that of "the special effects film." A dialogue film is built around and shows off its dialogue the way a special effects film is built around and shows off its visual effects. While films one would classify as dialogue films have been more common in Europe than in the United States, obvious American dialogue films include RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN, THE BIG CHILL, and especially MY DINNER WITH ANDRE. METROPOLITAN has marginally more plot than the former three films, but it probably still qualifies.
In METROPOLITAN, Tom Townsend (played by Edward Clements) gets politely kidnapped to a debutante party populated by young, wealthy, sophisticated intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals. They call themselves the SFRP (Sally Fowler Rat Pack) and representatives of the UHB (Urban Haute Bourgeoisie). Tom's background is not quite so haute as the others but he can talk the talk and with a little help from the others he can walk the walk, in a second-hand tuxedo. But it is talking the talk that is the main thing and while on an intellectual level Tom has objections to this young tinder of the vanities--Tom believes himself to be a Fourier socialist--he nonetheless finds himself repeatedly drawn to their company.
The plot of METROPOLITAN is only very slight as one of the quieter members of the rat pack, a literature fan named Audrey Rouget (played by Carolyn Farina), takes a liking to Tom, though Tom is still in love with former girlfriend Serena Slocum (Elizabeth Thompson). But this film's fine point is not so much the plot as its view of this young aristocracy and the often funny and always engrossing dialogue. Writing credit for the dialogue (as well as most of the rest of the credit) goes to writer/director/producer Walt Stillman who, according to VARIETY sold his Manhattan apartment to help finance the film. He probably will not get rich making films like METROPOLITAN, but he should be able to get another apartment. I rate this a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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