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© DR -STUDIO 54 de Mark Christopher (1999) p8
24/04/2013 09:03
A Film Review by James Berardinelli (suite)
When it comes to style, 54 is an unqualified triumph. Studio 54, the famed, exclusive Manhattan den of disco and decadence, is re-created gloriously, from the balconies (where patrons had sex) and the basement (where the VIPs hung out and got high) to the dance floor.The atmosphere is almost over-energized, with the beat of a disco tune always in the background. If there was a modern day Babylon in America, it was Studio 54, and that's the sense that first time director Christopher gives us.
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© DR -STUDIO 54 de Mark Christopher (1999) p9
24/04/2013 09:12
A Film Review by James Berardinelli (suite)
Alas, this is a cliched case of style over substance. The trite story is a letdown because it traverses a predictable arc. While it's true that some of the people and events in 54 are real, and therefore only subject to marginal manipulation by the script, the disappointment comes from how shallow the fictional elements are.The movie's central character, a 19-year old Jersey City boy named Shane O'Shea (Ryan Phillippe), is Christopher's creation, and he's not especially interesting.
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© DR -STUDIO 54 de Mark Christopher (1999) p11
24/04/2013 09:21
Sites Externes
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Official Sites
Miscellaneous Sites
Photographs
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© DR -STUDIO 54 de Mark Christopher (1999) p12
24/04/2013 09:28
A Film Review by James Berardinelli (suite)
When we first meet Shane, he's gazing longingly across the Hudson River at the Manhattan skyline. He's bored by the local nightlife and wants to go into the city. After persuading his car- owning friend to drive him there, he ends up standing outside of Studio 54, trying to get in.When the club's owner, Steve Rubell (Mike Myers), spies Shane, he is taken by the young man's good looks,and waves him through.Soon,Shane has joined the ranks of bare-chested busboys working under the strobe lights.
*
He makes friends with a co-worker, Greg (Brecklin Meyer), who teaches him the ropes.Greg is married to a coat-check girl and would-be singer, Anita (Salma Hayek). Meanwhile, Shane's favoritism by Rubell and a prominent socialite (Sela Ward) puts him on the fast track.
It's not long before he has been promoted from busboy to bartender. As a result of his new job, he gets all the women and drugs that he wants, and has set his sights on a soap opera actress, Julie Black (Neve Campbell), whom he has long admired from afar. Actor Ryan Phillippe (I Know What You Did Last Summer) fails to make much of an impression as Shane. It's not all his fault–this is not a well-developed character–but Phillippe is unable to hold his own when placed in scenes with the radiant Salma Hayek and the equally charismatic Neve Campbell.
And he really looks bad when acting alongside Heather Matarazzo (the lead from Todd Solondz' Welcome to the Dollhouse), who plays his sister, Grace. Somehow, Phillippe seems dwarfed by his surroundings while his co-stars manage to blend in with them.
*
*
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© DR -STUDIO 54 de Mark Christopher (1999) p13
24/04/2013 09:35
A Film Review by James Berardinelli (suite)
It's worth noting that his performance as Steve Rubell represents a departure for Mike Myers, the ex-Saturday Night Live star who is known for manic characters in Wayne's World and Austin Powers. Myers, following in the recent footsteps of Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Bill Murray, and Jim Carrey, is trying out his hand at a serious role.
His portrayal of Rubell, the overlord of Studio 54, is effective, although, like everything else in the movie, it lacks depth.Rubell is presented as a needy,somewhat-pathetic figure,but the script is short on background. He seems to exist more as a plot device than as a legitimate character.
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