54
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Actor: Mike Myers, Neve Campbell, Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Sela WardBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-08-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
DVD Reviews of 54
DVD Review: Studio 54, Where Are You?
Summary: 5 Stars
Some may see 54 as a cautionary tale, others as a how-to manual--I see it as a mixture of both. The late 70's early 80's were an extraordinary time. On the one hand there was recession, gas shortages, the Iran hostage situation, the Lennon assassination, horrible fashion, and disco; on the other hand there was sex, drugs, and disco. It was the best of times; it was the tackiest of times. Before AIDS, before people knew that coke just made you even more of a jerk than you were already, before people realized that leisure suits looked ridiculous, and mullets and perms were the devil's haircut; it looked like the party would never end. When we woke up it was either the big chill, or the big hangover. What were we thinking? Still, this film is really an important historical document that sums up the zeitgeist of those turbulent days of disco inferno.
Studio 54 proprietor Steve Rubell (Mike Meyers) is both crass and sensitive. He wants the party to last forever, but you'll only get in if you are beautiful, powerful, rich, a celebrity, or some combination of the above. Mike Meyers acts his pants off in a rare dramatic role. Though at times his version of Rubell shows flashes of Austin Powers, and even Dr. Evil, he mostly plays him straight. Or as straight as you can play someone who uses the bartenders and bus boys of Studio 54 as his own personal male harem.
54 is similar to 24 Hour Party People, centering on the scene around a night club, but in 24 Hour PP the club is in Manchester, not Manhattan. 54 is also different in that rather than focusing on the impresario the story is told through the eyes of an outsider who starts as a busboy then becomes a star bartender, Shane O'Shea (Ryan Phillippe). His character is based on Tieg Thomas who worked at Studio 54 from 1977 to 1982. Shane is a New Jersey boy who dreams of the night life just over the bridge when he sees a picture of Julie Black (Neve Campbell), a New Jersey girl who acts in a soap opera, in the gossip column. He has the looks that get him in, even though his Jersey friends can't get in, even when he becomes a star bartender and begs Steve to put them on the list.
The most poignant scene in my opinion is when the newly hired Shane moves to New York. He walks down the dreary stairs of his New Jersey home while his father just sits there glumly and says good-bye.
Shane moves in with a couple who both work at 54, Greg & Anita Randazzo (Breckin Meyer and Salma Hayek). Greg is a busboy like Shane, but he is unwilling to do what it takes to get ahead and be promoted to bartender. Anita is a coat check girl, but she has disco dreams of her own. Salma Hayek is smokin' hot, and she even does get to finally sing, quite well, I might add. Though 54 is not so much a film with Hollywood endings as an elegy for a bygone era, those halcyon days that did not end so well...
I think that Ryan Phillippe did a great job here, the best I've seen him since he played Sebastian Valmont in Cruel Intentions. Neve Campbell does well as Shane's love interest. A couple of kids from New Jersey, they go bowling, and could almost end up living happily ever after if they hadn't both sold their souls to the demons who preside over Studio 54.
There are tons of celebrity cameos: Michael York plays an ambassador, Ron Jeremy plays Ron, Elio Fiorucci plays himself, and we have Cindy Crawford, Sheryl Crow, Heidi Klum, Donald Trump, and a host of others who probably walked through the famous doors of Studio 54 in its heyday. Ellen Albertini Dow plays Disco Dottie, and she was of course the rappin' Grandma Rosie in The Wedding Singer. The disco music, heard in retrospect, is actually kind of thrilling, especially with the excitement of the dancing, and the wall to wall decadence. There is a great disco version of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" I kid you not!!!
The Bottom Line is that 54 is a really fun film about a certain bygone era. If you remember it that proves you weren't there. If you can find it, if they ever release it on DVD, it would behoove you to see the director's cut. They watered it down, cut out 45 minutes, and inserted 25 minutes of exposition to smooth over the plot gaps. In spite of their tinkering, it was still a flop, so it would have been better to go down in flames with the original cut by director Mark Christopher. A film like 54 is just too fabulous for the masses, and that is why they had to stand behind the velvet rope wishing they could get into Studio 54 and dance the night away.
Steve Rubell: Is he gorgeous?
Viv: He's gorgeous. Look for yourself.
Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] I was warned that Steven didn't hire any dummies and I should be on my toes because he could ask some really tricky questions.
Steve Rubell: What's two plus two?
Shane O'Shea: Huh?
Steve Rubell: You'll be fine.
The Company (2003) Neve Campbell was Loretta 'Ry' Ryan
Frida (2002) Salma Hayek was Frida Kahlo
Gosford Park (2001) Ryan Phillippe was Henry Denton
Road Trip (Unrated Edition) (2000) Breckin Meyer was Josh Parker; Ellen Albertini Dow was Mrs. Manilow, Barry's Grandma
Cruel Intentions (1999) Ryan Phillippe was Sebastian Valmont
Wild Things (Unrated Edition) (1998) Neve Campbell was Suzie Toller
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery/The Spy Who Shagged Me/Goldmember (1997) Mike Meyers was Austin Powers / Dr. Evil; Michael York was Basil Exposition
The Craft (1996) Neve Campbell was Bonnie; Breckin Meyer was Mitt
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Mike Meyers was Charlie Mackenzie / Stuart Mackenzie
Cabaret (1972) Michael York was Brian Roberts
Steve Rubell: Not with that shirt.
[Shane turns to leave, Steve grabs his arm]
Steve Rubell: I said, not with that shirt.
[Shane pauses, then takes his shirt off, showing his six-pack]
Steve Rubell: Welcome to my party, handsome.
Description of 54
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 07/06/2004 Rating: RSaturday Night Fever it's not--call it more like Sunday Morning Leftovers. This portrait of the legendary Manhattan disco and its colorful cofounder, Steve Rubell, plays like the outtakes of a much more interesting film--where's the sex, the drugs, the classic disco music? (It shouldn't surprise viewers that Miramax and writer-director Mark Christopher had a falling-out over the final cut of the film; Miramax prevailed.) Considering that the essence of Studio 54 was about the rich and beautiful, it seems a bit unwise to focus on the poor and only-somewhat-beautiful, namely Shane (Ryan Phillippe), a Jersey boy who gets taken in by the razzle-dazzle of the disco era. Crossing the river, Shane finds another, more exciting life at Studio 54 as a shirtless bartender, and soon finds himself partying with the crème de la crème--and smitten with comely soap star Julie (Neve Campbell). The permutations of the story are familiar; if you've never seen VH1's Behind the Music documentary take on Studio 54 you'll find this film enjoyable, but unlike that exhaustive portrait, too many elements are missing. Most of Phillippe's performance seems to have ended up on the cutting-room floor (although his chiseled torso gets maximum exposure), Campbell's role is basically a glorified cameo, and Breckin Meyer and Salma Hayek, as Phillippe's only true pals, are wasted. The one true gem of the film, though, is Mike Myers's take on the late Steve Rubell, an inspired high-wire performance that balances humor and tragedy without ever giving in to camp or pathos. Had this been a more well-received movie, he'd be remembered come Oscar time--his drunken proposition of Philippe is a minor treasure. The soundtrack does feature some unknown chestnuts and a few new remixes, including an inspired disco version of--believe it or not--Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind." --Mark Englehart
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