54

1998 Drama

Mark Christopher wrote and directed this look back at the Disco Era when the popular Studio 54 was at its apogee in the late '70s. With obvious comparisons to Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997) and Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco (1998), the story introduces working-class 19-year-old Irish-American Shane O'Shea (Ryan Phillippe), who has lived with his father and siblings since the death of his mother when he was 12. Shane quickly rises from busboy to bartender at Studio 54, co-owned and managed in a paternal manner by entrepreneur Steve Rubell (Mike Myers). Busboy Greg Randazzo (Breckin Meyer) and Greg's wife, Anita (Salma Hayek), the club's coat check girl, become Shane's new friends, and he encounters the possibility of romance with soap star Julie Black (Neve Campbell). The story spans the summer of 1979 until the decline of Studio 54 a year later with IRS investigations, followed by the arrest and jailing of Rubell. Costumes by Ellen Lutter capture the glitter and glam-glitz of the period. more..

Director: Mark Christopher

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, Breckin Meyer

Reviews

  • An entertaining and surprisingly serious look at the infamous New York discotheque, with a genuine nostalgia for the late '70s and early '80s.

    Michael O'Sullivan - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

  • Amusing and holds interest largely thanks to its re-creation of a glitzy, flamboyant era, not to mention its soundtrack of disco songs that sound a lot better today than 20 years ago.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    29 November 2012

  • The movie is almost completely uninteresting on the story level but fascinating as a work of imagined reconstruction and anthropology and as a study of the theory and practice of Studio 54.

    Stephen Hunter - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

  • "Saturday Night Fever" with designer drugs and duds.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    29 November 2012

  • There's a glimmer of what the film might have been, though, in the performance of Mike Myers, who plays Studio co-owner Steve Rubell, with his sweaty thinning hair and look-at-me-I-got-class Lacoste shirts, as a vengeful gargoyle presiding over a kingdom of beauty he can rule but never join.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film

    ALMA Awards (1999)

     
  • Best Actor in a Leading Role

    Csapnivalo Awards (2000)

     
  • Worst Actor

    Razzie Awards (1999)

     
  • Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film

    YoungStar Awards (1999)