Description

An epic in the spirit of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, this widely acclaimed motion picture is a meticulous recreation of the turbulent era of Jesus and the events that changed the course of history! Narrated by Golden Globe nominee Christopher Plummer (Best Supporting Actor, AMERICAN TRAGEDY, 2000), it’s the bold and powerful story of Jesus as told by his disciple John. The best-loved but least understood of the gospels, John presents a uniquely human portrait of courage and passion encompassing Jesus' entire three-year ministry, the final years of his life. Intimate and reflective, THE GOSPEL OF JOHN offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the incomparable life and times of Jesus Christ. ... Read more

Reviews (63)

Very Graceful Storytelling.
I have watched both the 3 hour version and the 2 hour version and have found both to be very accurate in their presentation of the Gospel of John.I think the film will along with the free 'Jesus' film being distributed by Billy Graham are good tools in presenting the message of the Gospel.My middle son who has dyslexia and finds it hard to read his bible without help especially likes it.

Since it is an almost direct word for word presentation of the Gospel of John it does suffer somewhat in entertainment value but the original source was written to inform not entertain.

It is definitely a more graceful telling of the Gospel than 'The Passion of the Christ', and is probably a better medium for reaching unbelievers.

The only quibble I have with the presentation is that Mary Magdelene seems to appear everywhere.She is in the upper room, she is at Gethsemane, places where it is not mentioned she actually was.It is as if she is the 13th disciple.It is almost as if they are trying to play to the Davinchi Code mania.

Visual John...
So much positive feedback has been given about this film that to say anything remotely negative about it seems like the highest form of blasphemy. But what the film's supporters fail to grasp is that we curmudgeons are not attacking the content nor the message, but instead, its delivery.John's gospel is as intricate as it is explosive in its spiritual implications and this film conveys neither its richness nor its power.'The Gospel of John' falls far short in its attempt to recreate this supremely complex evangel.Phillip Saville simply wasn't equal to his task.

I approached this film with trepidation and great expectation. At last, John's power put onto film.Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed with what opened before my eyes.So much so that my interest waned and I pressed 'stop' at John 18.Therefore, my review isn't completely fair, but in its defense, I doubt Saville's depiction of the Passion and Resurrection would have proved any more powerful than the first half of the film.

Other reviewers have done a much better job of illuminating this film's many faults, so I wouldn't like to repeat them.Instead, I would like to examine 'why' this daring project doesn't succeed.The main problem is its over-riding tone.From the opening scene of the evening sun floating down over the water and Christopher Plummer enlightening us with the 'Word became flesh,' I felt I was back again in Sunday school. The film wants to instruct rather than show and thus fails at both.Its greatest drawback dogs it the whole way through: a lifeless literalism.OK, be true to the text. Include every and, but and thus, but at least make it come alive!Visceral energy and power are absent from this film.Although John is the 'most spiritual' of the Gospels, that doesn't mean it is in any way two-dimensional.Rather, there is layer upon layer...but we only get the bare surface withSaville's 'The Gospel of John.'

The source of such flaccidity is the amateurism that pervades in scene after scene. With their undisguised Brit accents and wooden presentation, the Baptist and followers ruin things from the start. They are hardly believable and the film cheats with the 'inserted' baptismal scene, another homage to the certain 'interpretation' that the film seeks (under-the-cuff) to present.And ironically, such creative allowance is none too 'literal' as John is oddly silent about Jesus's baptism.

With the Baptist's cry of 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,' Henry Ian Cusick's Yeshua comes before us.As one reviewer stated correctly, Cusick does the best he can and helps to save the film from complete mediocrity.According to John's Gospel, Jesus is God incarnate who visits us sinful humans to fulfil His redemptive mission.To play God incarnate?Is that possible?Cusick should have declined and Saville should have been thinking. Unable to give us neither the Son of Man nor the Son of God, Cusick falls into a bland no-man's-land.He gives neither passion, nor power--human or divine--and instead shouts and smiles his way through the Gospel. He states his part, but has he come to terms with it?I doubt it.Instead, what Cusick does manage to capture sometimes is the impenetrable authority of the Rabbi from Nazareth.The scenes when Jesus returns to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles provide a glimmer of what this film could have been.Jesus's stern corrections of the Pharisees contain a fragment of the righteous anger that is found in the text.(And yes, anger is there!)These spiritual sparring matches hold the viewer until a grinning Cusick lets out a mundane, 'You belong to your father the devil!'

Outside of Cusick's performance, nothing can hold its own.Only the integrity of the text remains, but the lack of power in its presentation seems almost blasphemous.The miracles are all there:Cana, feeding the 5,000, walking on the water and Lazarus, but all shown so shoddily that they lose their 'unbelievability.' Isn't that the point of a miracle????How can you believe that the water indeed became wine when it is served up in plastic cups????How can we believe when Cusick walks across the waves with the left over background from the Ten Commandments??? And the Samaritan woman?Her forced facial contortions invoke more laughter and revulsionthan sincere consideration of Jesus's words.

If this film had been truthfully marketed for what it is--an evangelical tool--then, I wouldn't have felt so cheated.I would have known what to expect.And had it been done more professionally--with true craftsmanship and respect, dare I say, awe, for its source material, then its message would have hit harder.Gibson's 'Passion,' with all its faults, succeeds in forcing the viewer to react, to confront, to decide.'The Gospel of John' provokes more blasphemous laughter than meaningful tears or serious self-inspection. For those who want the real kingdom, power and glory, then READ The Gospel of John rather than watch it.

Inspirational and illuminating
This movie is cast and acted and directed with great sensitivity and veracity. It brings the familiar words of The Gospel of John to life in an entirely convincing way. It is both inspirational and educational. Every member of the cast is believable in his or her role. This is the best Biblical movie I have ever seen, not detracting from its source but illuminating it. Outstanding!!!

Excellent
If you've seen The Gospel of Matthew (TGM), know that this movie is as excellent as TGM is horrible; thus it's excellent indeed. I watched it soon after seeing The Passion of the Christ, and it's even superior to that. The Gospel of John excels on every level, particularly with the performances of those who play Jesus and John the Baptist. It's not simply great "entertainment" as the AP says in its review. The Gospel of John DVD has transformative power. I recommend that you read John's gospel first, then watch the film; you'll see how exact this word-for-word rendition is. I can't recommend it more highly.

Powerful & riveting film!
What a wonderful movie made about Jesus. This is an extremely powerful and riveting film. It is a word-for-word adaptation of the 21 chapters of the Gospel According to John. Christopher Plummer narrates parts of the film. Henry Ian Cusick is the most realistic Jesus I have seen portrayed on film. My other favorite Jesus performance is by Robert Powell in "Jesus of Nazareth" - a mini-series that first appeared on TV in 1977 and is 382 minutes long. That is also an excellent movie and worth buying on DVD.

The directing, acting and musical score are done extremely well. This is an inspirational movie with a positive message and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I recently bought the 2-disc DVD set of "The Gospel of John". My only complaint about this new 2-disc DVD set is that they got rid of the 3-disc DVD set and replaced it with the 2-disc set. So far, the only difference between the two sets that I can see are that this new 2-disc set dropped the DTS audio track but kept the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Also, this new 2-disc set includes a new 2-hour version of the film plus the original 3-hour theatrical version. I have no idea why someone would want to only watch a cut up version of a "word-for-word" movie version of "The Gospel of John".I'm assuming that because they included this chopped up version of the film, they dropped the DTS audio track to make room for this other version of the film. I tried to buy the 3-disc set version of this film but I waited too long. I cannot find it (brand new) even on the film's website. But I'm still glad I bought this 2-disc set - It's a lot less expensive than the 3-disc set was. I haven't finished watching everything on it yet so I hope it has all the extras that the original 3-disc set had. It seems to have most of the extras except the DTS soundtrack.

This movie is HIGHLY recommended for anybody and everybody but especially those who prefer to SEE and HEAR the Gospel of John in a "visual" way in addition to reading and studying the Bible. It's a treasure to keep forever. I think the Gospel of Mark is coming soon to theaters made by the same people that did this movie.I hope they do as good of a job with that movie as they did with this one.My rating: A+ ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Newley's masterpiece and Tanner's acclaimed performance
Did you know that Anthony Newley never sold the film rights to Stop The World...? The studio's promotion notwithstanding, this Warner Brothers release (and the two additional versions that followed, with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Scolari, respectively) are filmed records of the show in performance on stage. Newley was, in fact, so protective of this show and so concerned with the idea that it might fail to earn it's place in the musical theatre canon because of mishandling or misrepresentation that he twice refused to appear in filmed versions of the show. After the New York critics raved about him as an actor/writer (rather than writer/actor?) he obsessed that the show would be shrugged off as a star vehicle, useless without him. (Likewise, his followup show "Roar of the Greasepaint..." starred Norman Wisdom until producer David Merrick refused to present it without Newley in the lead!) For the first (and only good) "film" Newley endorsed his London replacement Tony Tanner, who had turned this show and role into something of a personal triumph when Newley left for Broadway. Any reservations you may feel about coughing up $20 for a non-Newley "Stop The World" will be found unwarranted when you see Tanner's brilliant star turn. Wry and cynical, by turns put-upon and smug, Tanner breathes glorious life into one of the most alarmingly ambiguous musical roles ever written. Dripping with adroit charm, yet roundly dislikable, Tanner is a marvel to behold.

Stop The World, Please
I was disappointed with this release. I was looking for a 1996 version that starred Peter Scolari and Stephanie Zimbalist. Saw it on t.v. once and loved it, but, can't find a copy anywhere.

GREAT. The more you see it the better it becomes
I saw this in the theatres about 10 times before it ever came out on video. Since I now have the video, I have seen it at least 50 times and it gets better each time. This is the type of show you must see about three times before it becomes great. Each time you see it, something new seems to show up. Would not recommend it to anyone under 16. Try it, you'll love it. It makes you think and use your brain. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Metroland, based on Julian Barnes's first novel, is a tale of midlife, middle-class malaise reminiscent of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. It's 1977, and shaggy-haired thirtysomething Chris (Christian Bale) has a lovely wife (Emily Watson) and baby, a solid office job, and a nice house in the London suburb of Metroland. Life is good, until the surprise arrival of old chum Toni (Lee Ross), whom Chris has not seen for 10 years and who was his accomplice in teenage shenanigans and heady visions of a bohemian life abroad. Toni, an inveterate ladies man and rootless poet, disdains his old friend's bourgeois milieu and feels it his duty to revive Chris's passion for women, art, and rock & roll. Meanwhile, Chris can't stop fantasizing about his steamier days as a 20-year-old in Paris with his sultry French girlfriend, and fails to notice that Toni covets his wife and that she has sexual desires of her own. While there's a palpable sexual energy in the movie's proceedings that adds a certain zing to the themes of angst and longing, their eventual epiphanies are disappointingly benign. Lee Ross's swashbuckling Toni and Emily Watson's intelligent, knowing wife carry the movie. --Rebecca Wright ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Based on the nostalgic short stories of H.E. Bates, My UncleSilas takes place in an endless Edwardian summer filled with thatched cottages, apple-cheeked girls, and lovable rogues, where the answer to every problem is another glass of red-currant wine.

Young Edward is sent to spend the summer in the country with his irrepressible great-uncle, and he soon finds himself involved in a series of adventures. Most of these involve Uncle Silas's limitless libido and his frequent attempts to bring a little joy into the lives of lonely local women. Albert Finney is a delight as Silas--the star of Tom Jones is showing his age, but he still has a twinkle in his eye and enough joie de vivre to make us believe that lonely women might succumb to Silas's shabby charm.

My Uncle Silas is the kind of shamelessly sentimental entertainment that might quickly become cloying, but the episodic format of this film works well. There's not much depth to My Uncle Silas, but Finney's performance and a strong supporting cast make for two hours of undemanding entertainment.--Simon Leake ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Made for TV... But worth watching
Although made for cable television, I found this movie well written, superbly acted, and very enticing. A love story that spans several decades, the video does a good job of using flashbacks to tell the story and grab your attention; and then never lets it go. It proves that even under the most horrific of conditions, love can survive! And also reminds you that some times knowing the truth doesn't mean you have to tell the whole world the truth!

When the truth is better left unsaid...
This is a film about the tragedy of war, and how hope and redemption can be born from the ashes of shattered lives. Simon Wiesenthal has never given up his hunt for the perpetrators of the Holocaust but out of compassion for three victims he allowed one Nazi to escape justice. This is a story about two young lovers who are torn apart by the Second World War. Max is studying to be a Doctor; Helen is the woman he hopes to marry. Both are Jewish and both are about to end up in a brutal Concentration Camp run by the sadistic Werner Schultz who thinks nothing of beating a man to death with his cane. When Max decides to escape, Helen chooses to stay behind for the sake of her sister Miriam. It will be another twenty years before Max sees Helen again. In the years after the war Max ends up in a forced labour camp in Siberia but eventually he is repatriated to his birthplace, Poland. It is only then does he begin the search for Helen and eventually he finds her, living in West Germany under the name of Helen Weiss. But the past has a terrible way of extracting a dreadful price upon the living, and Max is to find this out when he finally meets up with Helen. For Helen was brutally raped by Werner Schultz and her son Marek is also his son. Unable to cope with this revelation, Max leaves Helen but when Wiesenthal comes looking for Max to testify against Schultz, Max refuses, telling the Nazi Hunter why Werner Schultz must be left alone. If he testifies the truth will come out, and Schultz will know that he has a son by the woman he raped all those years ago. As Helen tells Wiesenthal, "What German court will deny Schultz the right to his son?" This is a brilliant film, well acted, well written and hauntingly crafted as it shows the brutality of war and the suffering its many victims have to endure even when the last battle has been won. Treat Williams is excellent as Max, and Alice Krige (remembered for her role as the Borg Queen in "First Contact") is convincing as Helen, Max's lost love. Martin Landau gives a credible performance as Wiesenthal, all in all this is a well made film that should take its place alongside the dramatisation of "The Diary of Anne Frank." ... Read more

Description

From wife-swapping to bingo to beauty queens, Wonderland takes a humorous and affectionate look at life in the world's first mass produced and scientifically planned suburb, Levittown, NY, on its 50th anniversary. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Wonderland trivia....
Wonderland, aka The Fruit Machine, made in 1988, is my fave movie of all time. I did my uni dissertation on Frank Clarke, the writer, an incredibly sweet and witty guy, who based the character of Eddie on himself at the age of 16. Frank also wrote the screenplays for Letter to Brezhnev and Blonde Fist. Emile Charles is the brother of the rather more famous (if less talented) Craig Charles, and also appeared in the movie Like It Is. Tony Forsyth worked with the Royal Shakespeare company for a while. Erm, that's about it. And I dunno where that jacket photo came from, but that chick weren't in my movie.....

WONDERLAND not WONDERLAND
I have seen this hilarious documentary of Levittown and wish to buy the video. The jacket photo is correct, but the initial reviews I have read apply to another film entirely! If the documentary is out of print, how do I obtain a copy...and...if someone advertises a used copy, how do I make sure it is the correct video? Anyone?

Great movie, a must see with excellent editing...wish to own!

mythic and wonderful
This imaginative and moving little British film is full of wonder. The type of 'wonder' children and artists enjoy when something sparks their fantasy life. Sixteen-year-old Eddie, played to perfection by Emile Charles, is such a boy. His working-class mum has instilled in him romantic cinematic fantasies. Their real life, however, is not so nice and for all its mythology and fantasy, this special film is gritty and thruthful. Eddie's best mate Michael (Tony Forsyth) hustles and steals to survive. As played by the remarkable Tony Forsyth, he is astonishingly naive, tender, seductive, and street-wise all at the same time. Caravaggio would have wanted to paint this lovely boy. After being brutalized at home and witnessing a viscious killing, they run away together to live on their own and have adventures. They truly love each other and behave like a little married couple. Eddie lives in a fantasy world of opera and cinema, and exhuberantly imagines that they are like Marilyn and Jane Russell, or Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Michael brings home the bacon, and protects Eddie from the reality of where the money comes from. Their story is further complicated by the killer's pursuit, Michael's misdemeanors, and Eddie's dreams of a dolphin man who saves them both. Get out your handkerchiefs for the ending of this extraordinary film. It will break your heart.

Not the Documentary
The film "Wonderland" (aka "The FruitMachine") is a surprisingly dippy, imaginative romp involving twogay teenaged boys who happen to witness a gangland murder and are forced to flee Liverpool for Brighton. The film takes many inventive turns, several of which involve Eddie's dream lover, a man-dolphin hybrid who actually appears at crucial moments in the film to save Eddie and his partner, Michael. There are many subplots and colorful supporting characters, and the ending, albeit sad, is inevitable. It's worth it if only for the dance sequence at the Fruit Machine, a gay showbar in Liverpool, in which Michael competes for thirty quid. His dance is both erotic and touchingly naive. Both boys, Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth, should have had big careers in film. Apart from one distracting editing lapse that blunts the finale, this is a superior film, in that it refuses to indulge in stereotyping and doesn't condescend to its lead characters.

you have the wrong editorial description.
The customer review you have is for the correct movie. I agree with everything that reviewer said. How do we get them to release it for sale? ... Read more

Reviews (4)

great film
This version of Hans Christian Andersen is really great. Wonderful costumes scenery and good actors and also scenery and effects. Its version for children and grownups .

Magically produced and Charmingly Acted
Kieren Bew and Emily Hamilton bring most of the emotional and acting highs to this delightful production.

The art direction and styling of this splendrous melding of Hans Christian Andersen and his memorable stories are unforgettable.

Bew brings a delightfully childlike and charmingly bubbly prescence that disarms one and allows us into the mind and true story of one of history's delightful creations.

I recommend this very highly. To those who cherish Andersen and those have not been spoiled by this present world of in-your-face theatrics and slam-bang storytelling. All is not happy in this tale. But that's life...as Hans readily admits.

The pace is free and easy. Buy it, make yourself a cup of tea and sit back. Enjoy.

this film may have you comit suicide.
This film is horribly depressing. The main actor plays his character like a raving lunatic and , if he acted this way in public, would have been locked up.
I was hoping this DVD would be a series of shorts, like arabian nights, or even the 10th kingdom, but no. Instead it was a thinly disguised biography of han's christian anderson. In fact the acting of the main character is so bad, you do not even want to see the fairy tales. They too are gloomy and depressive.
Skip this one, and if you must get a hall mark faerie tale try the following:
10th Kingdom
Arabian nights
The Snow Queen
Dinotopia
Jack and the Bean Stalk the true story
Merlin

In that order.

Sincerely: David C. Eberhart II

Life as a fairy tale
This contains spoilers, so don't read unless you want to know what happens. This movie is wonderful. It captures a side of the fairy tales from a whole different viewpoint and captures the love, friendship, hope, sadness and the world as it is seen by Andersen. The end is very sad but it is such a beautiful story but you can't help but wonder if you could go into the movie and beat Andersen with a stick for not realizing his true love was Henrietta and not the opera singer, Jenny Lind. I would say this movie is both a biography and a romance although I do not know how true all of it is, it is sad nonetheless but a very touching and heartfelt movie with great acting and effects that capture you from the beginning. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A feel good series
My Uncle Silas series 2 staring Albert Finney is a great look at the relationship that can develop between a young boy and his older although not especially wiser great uncle. As Uncle Silas, Finney is excellent at showing his great nephew Edward, played wonderfully by Joe Prospero, the way not to carry on as a proper gentleman. Although set in England in the time before World War 1 the stories and the lessons that they teach are timeless. Take the time and sit back and relax and enjoy the delightful tales that playout in this series. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more