Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

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."

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

A satisfying story of love and marriage told with humor and insight.

San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Stack

A sexy, moody comedy that plays like a dreamy comic novel.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

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

Slate by David Edelstein

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.

Time by Richard Schickel

Metroland finally makes a good, subtle case for the bearable weightiness of middle-class being, for the higher morality of muddling through.

Variety by David Rooney

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

Village Voice by Justine Elias

An unflashy tale of memory and desire in suburban London.

Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan

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.

San Francisco Examiner by Walter Addiego

Metroland is a provocative rumination on how relationships are warped by two people's inability to be truthful with each other.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

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 level

Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector

This fairly serious meditation on conventionality and monogamy blames his ennui on external forces, remaining adolescent even when it suggests its hero has grown up.

Newsweek

Too bad the film ultimately fails to explore [provocative questions], falling instead to cliches.

Film Threat by Tom Meek

The sexually charged undercurrent of Mertoland promises something dark, disturbing or at least provocative, but as the characters reach their defining moments, it's the plot that yields to the ordinary.