J-bot6 Well I hate to have to give such a low rating to a movie filled with (mostly) good actors. However, I can't ignore the fact that the audio mix was terrible, 90% of the shots in the nightclub were too bright, the general vibe of the time period being depicted was wrong, the dialog sounded like it was from the 1930s (complete with numerous lengthy monologues), the street fashion was almost completely inaccurate, and that pretty much every male character in the film talked in almost the exact same manner.There were at least five points in this movie at which I said to myself, "What the hell is this film?" This is one seriously bizarre production. It's almost like if Woody Allen was asked to write and direct a double-episode of "Friends". It's clear that either the writer was never actually there in the late 1970s and early 1980s or they have no memory of it and had to reconstruct their 'experiences' based on watching old black and white movies.Ultimately, if you want to watch a warm and fuzzy film filled with lengthy overly-formal dialog then this is the one to see. On the other hand, if you want an accurate depiction of the late 1970s and early 1980s, you're better off watching "That 70s Show" and the movie "The Informers". I can safely say that these two recommendations are in fact accurate to the time-periods they depict. And for something a bit more surreal yet indicative of the attitude of the early 80s, check out "Flash Dance" and "Purple Rain".Over and out.

eddiez61 Disco was a high energy, drug fueled, frantic, primal experience that was beyond rationality, that defied nature, that reveled in absurdity. But this film is a bland, somber, melancholic chat fest that demands that its audience forget everything its ever heard about or seen of or actually experienced at a disco. It's beyond stupid. The whole premise is flawed, that disco died in the early eighties - it didn't, it mutated into an even more frantic, outrageous club scene. But this true fact doesn't deter the film's creators from their inaccurate pointless fantasy.A couple of discos may have closed down or changed style in Manhattan but clubs where people danced were actually even more popular and numerous. The celebrity glitz factor may have faded, but the intense social scene was charging ahead. Cocaine was everywhere by the bucket fulls at the time, not just up Hollywood's noses, and the nightlife was running hot on its power. It was insane, deranged, unbelievable. But this dumb flick wants you to believe that a whole world was collapsing, that an entire generation of party animals quickly went extinct. Wrong.If this movie is meant to be a comment on the virus like spread of Reagonomics into every aspect of American culture throughout the 80s, then having a grand Disco as the setting pretty much mandates that the film be a broad parody. But it isn't, it's just a self conscious exercise in style. But even the style is wrong. Power suits and ties wouldn't be fashionable till the next decade. No real urban hipster in the 80's would be seen dead in a pinstripe. Designer jeans were what the heavy weights were sporting, even the upper crust. So the "look" is off, which leaves the substance to carry the project. What substance there is is vacuous, vapid, and very annoying.The dialog is all stilted, awkward and overly literate - unnatural. It's like listening to a lit student read his or her first script. The acting is uneven and unfocused. No one seems to know what the point of this movie is, and all the talk and gestures don't add up to anything greater than themselves. It's just a series of smugly clever comments and shallow observations, but there's no direction to any of it. Chloë Sevigny is interesting to look at for a little bit but her "acting" is so flat and boring. Her partner, Kate Beckinsale, tries to do pump some life into the lame words she's given but there's only so much she can do with this corpse of a script. As wrong, and absurd, and demented as it was, Disco was a massive whale of an international phenomenon, but you'd never know it from this puny limp fish of a failure.

Lechuguilla Any film that plays the Andrea True Connection disco classic song "More, More, More" ... twice ... can't be all bad. The film's impressive, mostly disco soundtrack is by far the best element of this film.The story is razor thin. Several attractive, twenty-something, upwardly mobile preppies shuttle back and forth between work experience and nightclub. They are employed variously in advertising, book publishing, and law, and are preoccupied with the usual concerns: friendships, sex, romance, philosophy, and job prospects. The script's dialogue is voluminous, and most of it rather vacuous, which matches the characters.But story, plot, and characters aren't really what this film is about. "The Last Days Of Disco" is dedicated to that era in American history sandwiched between the turbulent 60s and the materialistic 80s. Most of the plot takes place at a Manhattan disco, a cavernous, rather opulent, room where an eclectic mix of people dance disco, surrounded by strobe lights and confetti. Here, the ensemble cast order their favorite drinks and chitchat about this and that, their web of social connections a tad confusing at times.I liked the casting of not-so-well-known actors. But some of their performances were a bit wooden. Costumes and production design mirror the era glitter quite well. This is a big-budget production.A lot of viewers will find the thin plot annoying, and the shallow, self-absorbed characters off-putting. But as nostalgia, "The Last Days Of Disco" works, helped mostly by those terrific songs. If only the soundtrack had included "Fly, Robin, Fly".

tcasenyc-1 I'm only giving it a "2" because there were a couple of marginally interesting bits of dialogue, & the female leads were outstanding. But overall...WOW does this movie suck! All the things everyone has written before apply: non-period clothes, sets & props; pretentious dialogue that came off as totally banal & unrealistic; REALLY horrible acting (love that they make such a big deal out of the little part by JENNIFER BEALS!!! WOW is she a terrible, terrible actress, excruciating even!! ... & what was up w/ that dude who ran the club, the one w/ the greasy hair & monkey face? Did he EVER work again after this??); but my biggest complaint, which I've had about "54" & other films set in clubs, & which other reviewers have mentioned here, is...WHY do they make clubs look so incredibly BORING???? The TV miniseries "Tales of the City," famously set in 1970s San Francisco, had several totally believable period scenes in clubs & bars, as have many other movies in which discos figure heavily into the backdrop (Carlito's Way comes to mind). Like other reviewers here, I'm wondering: have the people associated w/ this film ever actually BEEN to a club? I have seen the three films in the Stillman "trilogy" now & am totally perplexed as to why this guy was hailed in the 90s as such a genius? I've come across much wittier (& better-written) graffiti on the toilet wall of my favorite bar, & a zillion blogs. Was his father or brother in the movie business? Seriously, WHO thinks this is remarkable film-making? These are very well done student films, at best. You know it's a bad sign when, 45 minutes into a movie, you start READING A BOOK (exactly what I did, looking up at the movie on occasion, then going back to the book). Save your time, you will thank me.