Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

How many cliches can you fit into one movie? Apparently this is a question that Philip Saville, director of Metroland, did not particularly try to avoid in his screen adaptation of Julian Barnes' novel. The plotline to the film, and the book, reads like a writer's guide to making a midlife crisis interesting. Still, Metroland is a film that is worth a look for much more than its decent script.

The plot is a relatively simple, if overly explained one. Chris (the amazing Christian Bale) is a mid-20-something man living in the suburb of London known as Metroland, aptly titled for its connecting railway stations. Here he lives with his wife, Marion (another great performance by Emily Watson), and their young daughter, Amy.

It sounds like a nice, peaceful, if rather dull existence, when Chris' boring world is turned upside down by the reappearance of his friend, Toni. Toni, it seems, was Chris' boyhood friend, who he shared many wild times and high aspirations with in his younger days (cliche #1). Toni wants to know why Chris loves his life so. Or at least why he isn't bothering to change it.

It is through Toni's reappearance that we get, in flashback form, to see what Chris' younger days were full of - a stint as a starving photographer (cliche #2) in Paris (cliche #3) where he once had a torrid affair with a young French woman, Annick (cliche #4).

Metroland's key strength is these flashbacks. Not only are they infinitely more interesting than Chris and Toni's rather trite conversations about suburban life, but they give us a glimpse into what changed Chris from then to now. Christian Bale portrays the changes in his character perfectly. Without aging makeup or anything to really physically change his appearance, Bale switches effortlessly between the naive young man who "may never get married," and the man with a boring job in the city and a wife and kid.

Next to these flashbacks, and Bale's acting, Watson's acting is its third saving grace. She is calm and steady to Bale's rather emotional character. Although we never see her get out of control or upset, we know that she is a passionate woman who loves her husband dearly. It takes an expert actress to portray emotion without doing so physically, and Watson is that actress.

Metroland's faults can sometimes overtake the movie, however - a poorly-written lover's squabble between Chris and Annick nearly 2/3rds of the way through nearly ruins all of those rosy feelings toward the film; Toni's character is not fully fleshed out nor very well-played; and all of the London scenes in the first part of the movie trod endlessly. But Bale and Watson manage to salvage it all with their passionate performances.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age