Bell-bottomed Dionysus, Steve Rubell.
by Chris Kane, Reviewer
There is a delirious ambivalence that draws me to movies about the disco era; a once living, breathing (and one assumes, stinking) decade-long monument to poor taste. Don’t “tsk” me, you can’t even begin to argue the aesthetics of burnt orange décor, shirts open to the navel, and polyester bell bottom slacks. I thought PT Anderson’s Boogie Nights was groovy. I dug The Last Days of Disco. I recently re-watched Saturday Night Fever, and was surprised to find not only a solid film, but a reasonably deep one to boot. Having ventured and been delighted by other disco-era films, I thought I’d try Mark Christopher’s 54 in hopes of uncovering the same kind of kitschy jewel; I was wrong.
With the help of a barber and a polyester shirt, Shane O’Shea (Ryan Phillippe – I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Lincoln Lawyer) breaks free of Jersey City drudgery to chase his dream girl, TV soap star and Studio 54 frequenter, Julie Black (Neve Campbell – Party of Five, Scream). Shane O’Shea’s good looks catch the eye of club owner and bell-bottomed Dionysus Steve Rubell, (Mike Myers – SNL, Wayne’s World, Shrek) who hires O’Shea onto the shirtless wait staff. O’Shea goes from living in a rundown house in Jersey City to sharing a rundown Manhattan apartment with co-workers Greg (Breckin Meyer – Go) and his wife-cum-singer, Anita (Salma Hayek – Dogma, Puss in Boots). Add enough coke to choke a hippo, fleeting glimpses of Studio 54’s famous denizens, inconsistent/confusing themes, poor acting (garnering two Razzie nominations); an incomplete, almost nonexistent love story, and a perplexing, nearly nonsensical conclusion and you have Mark Christopher’s 54.
So how can a film set in what is arguably one of the most exciting decades of the last century engender nothing save mild confusion which quickly devolves to a wearisome apathy? 54 fails to excite; it fails to make the characters that inhabit Manhattan’s most infamous club during post-sexual-revolution New York even vaguely interesting. Director Mark Christopher’s (Boy’s Life 2) focus (on characters, on development, on story arc, tension, resolution, on giving us a reason to care about any of the aforementioned) is fleeting at best. His themes are inconsistent: We’re told in voiceover that club owner Steve Rubell had a “dream to throw the best party ever;” a party in which “models mingle with mechanics, plumbers dance with princes,” and that above all, Studio 54 was a “place where all labels were left behind. The club (as depicted in the film) may have shattered the boundaries of race, class and sexual proclivity, but the door policy clearly shows the fashion and dominant beauty paradigm labels are alive, well, and apparently doing the hustle.
Only Mike Myers in the roll of club co-founder, Steve Rubell, shines through the otherwise dismal high-school-drama-club ensemble. Consider the nuance in what is 54’s finest moment: Myers on a bed, listlessly puking onto a pile of cash, calmly begging to felate a club busboy. In that moment we see Dionysus flayed: see the vulnerability and the loneliness, the sum of Rubell’s wanton debauchery and greed. This powerful scene stands as an interesting (if accidental) metaphor for the sexual and chemical excess of an era.
Blu-ray: The transfer is satisfactory, but lacks the clarity of Blu-ray editions of films which predate 54. The audio, however, is excellent. Club scenes deliver a very cool aural illusion of being surrounded by hundreds of coked-out sweaty swingers. You can almost smell the Hai Karate! 54 does have an impressive soundtrack, (if you’re a fan of disco) and the Blu-ray audio delivers the crisp sibilance of the off-beat disco hi-hat as well as pelvis rattling lows and warm mids that put your home audio system to the test.
Special Features:
– Music Video “If You Could Read My Mind” by Stars on 54.
Overall: 54 attempts to drag America’s seedy sexual past, writhing and dusted with coke, into the light, but accomplishes little more than evoking boredom. 54 is a clumsy, empty piece of filmmaking with two graces which save if from a sub 2 rating: excellent sound and Mike Myers.
ComicsOnline gives 54 2 Billy Preston Afros out of 5.
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