Metropolitan (1990)

Though Richard Linklater and Kevin Smith may get most of the credit for giving birth to the downwardly-mobile post-adolescent talkfests of the '90s independent film boom, writer/director Whit Stillman's auspicious debut served to establish the other end of the spectrum. Set in an unspecified time "not so long ago," Metropolitan pokes affectionate fun at Stillman's ilk: overeducated East Coast preppies with too much time on their hands, mostly disposable incomes, and concerns both petty and universal. Stillman mocks and evokes Jane Austen with his mismatched pack of masters and debs who pair off in unlikely couplings, all the while secretly pining for some other member of their extended high-society group. As with Linklater and Smith's films, the dialogue is the true star here: the endlessly hilarious observations about literary criticism and agrarian socialism mask the characters' charming, quaint ignorance of matters of the heart. Stillman evinces stellar performances from his cast of then- (and in most cases, still-) unknowns -- including the ingratiatingly obsessive Edward Clements and Carolyn Farina -- and at least one breakout star turn from the irrepressible Christopher Eigeman, doing for this film what Vince Vaughn would do for Swingers several years later. Although Metropolitan is a little rough around the edges technically, it's to Stillman's credit -- as well as to cinematographer John Thomas and editor Christopher Tellefsen -- that he's able to create a palpable, encased-in-amber atmosphere on such a small budget. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide