Metropolitan

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Metropolitan

PG-13

Released Aug 3, 1990

1h 38m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

93%

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43 Reviews

84%

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5,000+ Ratings

A radical student is adopted by a group of young New Yorkers, serves as a catalyst to alter his and their lives. Gathering in a Manhattan apartment, the group of friends meet to discuss social mobility, Fourier's socialism and play bridge in their cocoon of upper-class society - until they are joined by a man with a critical view of their way of life.

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Critics Consensus

Metropolitan gently skewers the young socialite class with a smartly written dramedy whose unique, specific setting yields rich universal truths.

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Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

Stillman sketches his characters with gentle humor, capturing not only their foibles and foolishnesses but the earnest intentions behind them.

Jun 15, 2020

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Jonathan Romney

Film Comment Magazine

Metropolitan is a melancholic lament for not-quite-doomed youth-a self-styled new "lost generation" that isn't really lost, but might just never have a purpose.

Jun 15, 2020

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Stillman hasn't made as hermetically appealing a movie since, but for those lamenting the absence of the written word in modern comedy - rather than the improvisationally blurted-out kind - "Metropolitan" makes for delightful memory-lane viewing.

Aug 13, 2015

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Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

The writer-director Whit Stillman achieves a rarified atmosphere in his first film: the intellectual and social interaction among a group of Park Avenue socialites during the Christmas debutante season.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 9, 2023

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Metropolitan results in being as wise as it is fun. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 11, 2022

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Metropolitan introduced us to an intriguing new cinematic voice in Whit Stillman, and it stands as an utterly unique and highbrow example of the kind of cinema that's increasingly harder to find.

Nov 19, 2020

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Alec B

Yeah its definitely mocking a very particular set of New York elites but it also takes them seriously as people which makes the comedy more effective.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

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S R

Some good dialogue and some interesting takes on the rich High Schoolers in NYC, but not one for the ages. Saw on TCM.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/09/23

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Audience Member

105 minutes of wealthy children talk about their own privilege? Trite.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/26/23

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Steve D

Perhaps the greatest film lampooning the upper-class I have ever seen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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David K

I hear the accolades. I don't get it. The acting is about amateurish as you can get. Stilted delivery. If this is worthy of a 93 rating, maybe I should go into acting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/24/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Metropolitan is a superb work, though in many ways more literary than film. It isn't particularly outstanding in any of the ways that one would traditionally expect a film to be, but rather stands out with an amazingly crafted and witty script, which the gentle humor of, though teasing the "urban haute bourgeoisie" as the characters call it, and though sublime, is in many ways it is itself a product of that very same "UHB" environment. The acting is very much centered on that script and delivering it, with everything else taking somewhat of a backseat. In many ways Metropolitan seems like a modern Jane Austen novel brought to life, I wonder what it would have been like as a book. If you know what you're getting into, it makes for an excellent viewing. 87/100

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Whit Stillman

Director

Carolyn Farina

Audrey Rouget

Edward Clements

Tom Townsend

Chris Eigeman

Nick Smith

Taylor Nichols

Charlie Black

Allison Parisi

Jane Clark

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Synopsis

A radical student is adopted by a group of young New Yorkers, serves as a catalyst to alter his and their lives. Gathering in a Manhattan apartment, the group of friends meet to discuss social mobility, Fourier's socialism and play bridge in their cocoon of upper-class society - until they are joined by a man with a critical view of their way of life.

Director: Whit Stillman
Producer: Whit Stillman
Screenwriter: Whit Stillman
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Co: Westerly Films
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 1990, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Aug 7, 2015
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.7K
Runtime: 1h 38m

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