Chronically Metropolitan is a coming-of-age dramedy but it doesn’t come without some cynicism.
Directed by Xavier Manrique from a screenplay written by Nick Schutt, the film stars Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Benson, Addison Timlin, Josh Peck, with Chris Noth and Mary-Louise Parker. The feature film is the directorial debut for Manrique, a protege of The Devil Wears Prada director and Chronically Metropolitan executive producer David Frankel.
Fenton Dillane (Hernandez) has moved back home after his writing debut turns out to be a disaster after he reveals a bit more than he should about his personal life. It doesn’t play well so Fenton decides to move back home in order to get his life back together. He does so with the hope of winning back his ex-girlfriend, Jessie (Benson). Jessie’s engaged so Fenton has his work cut out for him. He’s also hoping to fix his relationship with his parents and that’s shaky at the moment. Fenton’s father, Christopher (Noth), has found himself in a scandal because of lobsters and coeds. A lion in the literary industry, Chris’s womanizing has finally caught up to him (Is anyone else reminded of Noth’s character on The Good Wife? No? Just me?). Fenton’s mom, Annabel (Parker) is now buying drug’s from Fenton’s best friend John (Peck). This family is so dysfunctional, it’s beyond crazy!
I can’t say I’m surprised by the ending and spoiler alert, you can see it coming a mile away. To be honest, it’s one that I was actually rooting for with Fenton and Jessie ending up together rather than Jessie marrying her fiance. After all, the two of them did make out with each other just days before Jessie was set to get married. In typical comedic fashion, one could see the wedding being called off as soon as the two got back together.
It’s a fun movie and I look forward to seeing what Ashley Benson does with her time now that Pretty Little Liars has come to an end.
The film, which held its world premiere at the Nantucket Film Festival in 2016, will be distributed by Paladin and released in theaters in New York (Village East Cinema) and Los Angeles (Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, CA) on Friday, August 4, 2017 with an iTunes release as well. A Blu-Ray/Digital HD release is already set for September 5, 2017 from Univeral Pictures Home Entertainment. Bonus features will include an alternate ending, deleted scenes, and Chronically Interviewed: Behind The Scenes with the stars of Chronically Metropolitan.
