54
Release Date: August 28, 1998 Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, Breckin Meyer, Sela Ward Directed by: Mark Christopher Distributed by: Miramax Films MPAA Rating: R (sexuality, drug use, language) URL: http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio/reviews/1998/54.htm
In one of its recent reports, Reuters newswire gave Miramax Films' new movie 54 the label of a "disco film." Granted, the movie is about one of the most exclusive 1970's disco dives, and that disco music could be considered an entire culture, but the disco label itself is quite circumstantial. One of the things that 54 does best is give a general critique of the less fortunate making fame and success for themselves on a single break. The critique is thematically inspiring and thoughtful, but it's so well buried in the glamour of the movie that it's almost not worth noticing. On the surface, 54 is a muddled project.
54 was written and directed by the same man - Mark Christopher - and this is his first feature made for nationwide release. Previous to this, he's made a living directing short films or segments of features, and for extending his reach to 90 minutes, he does well. Unfortunately, any brilliance that might've surfaced in the script is lost in the acting corps' rough-on-the-edges job. Ryan Phillippe, as the star, uses his good looks to his advantage but can't come up with anything worthwhile in terms of substance. Salma Hayek and Mike Myers have limited screen time, playing supporting roles to the story's main man, and both of them fail to make an impression. In fact, only Neve Campbell is any good, and this marks her first impressive dramatic feature. Though she was noteworthy in SCREAM, she hasn't done much in the way of quality since, and she was fun to watch here.
Phillippe (I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) is Shane O'Shea, a young Jersey kid with ambitions to be somewhere more exciting. One night he convinces a friend with a car to take him across the river to New York City, where they make their way to the exclusive disco dive Studio 54. Only the beautiful people get inside, though, and so there's throngs of people outside the door. The club's eccentric manager, Steve Rubell (Mike Myers, AUSTIN POWERS), makes the call to let Shane in, and then days later Shane is hired by Rubell to work as a busboy. With the help of newfound friend Greg (Breckin Meyer), he's quickly promoted to bartender and instant fame inside the club. It's then that he meets Julie Black, a soap opera actress; the two hit it off, and that's perhaps the last good thing to come of the waning days of Studio 54.
Christopher tells the story in as much of a straight line as is possible without staying on course. Though only 90 minutes long and very much to the point, 54 has too many plot devices that bog it down. Because of this, and because of Christopher's inexperience with directing full-length features, none of the possibly-interesting subplots come to fruition. The love story between Shane and Julie is over and done with in the last half-hour; the story of Rubell's battles with the IRS isn't in the light until the last twenty minutes, and even that is unexpected; and Shane's fallings-out with Greg are formulaic in all respects. For the most part 54 is a so-so movie, unable to find something to bring it up but not pulled under by any of its flaws. It's hard to dislike with such a short running time, and so in some sense it's almost a guaranteed worthwhile watch.
FINAL AWARD FOR "54": 2.5 stars - an enjoyable movie.
-- Craig Roush kinnopio@execpc.com -- Kinnopio's Movie Reviews http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews