Metroland

Are you satisfied with your life? Ever wonder if you had taken a different direction if things would be better? What if you hadn’t left that job offer on the table, or ended a certain relationship? What if you had pursued your dreams a little while longer before settling for the ordinary? Would you be happier? Or is living a normal life the best it ever gets? To ponder these essential questions let’s take a trip to the quaint suburban streets of a place called Metroland.

Christian Bale plays Chris, husband to Marion (Emily Watson), father to newborn daughter Amy, who calls the London suburb of Eastwood home circa 1977. His predictable existence as a young professional is thrown for a loop when his oldest pal Toni (Lee Ross) blows back into town. Toni’s free-spirited and reckless nature awakens Chris’s wildside, leading Chris to assess his role as husband/father. Toni’s presence also stirs memories in Chris of his idealistic days in Paris when he dreamed of being a photographer.

Paris also revives Chris’s feelings for his first girlfriend, the sexy Annick, who represented his first real sexual conquest. Toni’s constant prodding adds to Chris’s frustrations over his unrequited ambitions and puts a strain on his marriage to Marion. His early-thirties crisis pushes him to the brink of infidelity and forces him to choose between a life of imprudent behavior or the responsibilities of family. Leaving Eastwood proves difficult because it’s the one place Chris has always been able to call home.

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Metroland is one of those movies that easily gets overlooked. It’s not heavy on plot but does serve as an interesting character study. Bale, who is compiling an impressive body-of-work, is excellent playing Chris from age 16-30, effectively capturing a string of traits from teenage naivete to adult trepidation. Watson also stands out as the understanding Marion, and Lee Ross steals scenes as the indifferent Toni, who is stuck in a state of arrested development. I think we’ve all evaluated ourselves at one time or another which makes Metroland a film everyone can relate to.

The trailer for Metroland: