Metroland Critic Reviews

It's the rare portrait of a happy marriage that is honest about the complex currents of desire, and the drama is beautifully played by Bale, who gawks with soulful sweetness, and Watson, who does her most piercing work since "Breaking the Waves."Read the full review

A satisfying story of love and marriage told with humor and insight.Read the full review

A sexy, moody comedy that plays like a dreamy comic novel.Read the full review

There are a lot of movies about escaping from the middle class, but Metroland is one of the few about escaping into it.Read the full review

A witty script and strong performances hoist Metroland beyond the confines of its rather standard, TV-style approach.Read the full review

While it's true that you can't pack as much psychological detail into a movie as you can into a novel, director Philip Saville and screenwriter Adrian Hodges bring out the yeasty subtext of even the most brittle encounters.Read the full review

It's a thoughtfully constructed story, with nuanced performances all around and even a mild surprise thrown in, but the whole thing feels ever so slightly enervated, like a game of chess between codgers in the park.Read the full review

Bale and Watson make most of the film more interesting and watchable than it might otherwise be, finding flesh and blood in a script that isn't always equal to their talents. [23 Apr 1999]Read the full review

Director Philip Saville, working from a script by Adrian Hodges (which, in turn, is based on the novel by Julian Barnes), has crafted a competent, character-based tale, but the issues examined are stale, and Saville is unable to find a way to take the story to a newer, more interesting levelRead the full review