# 54 (1998)

### reviewed by
Walter Frith

    '54' (1998)

    A movie review by Walter Frith

Member of the 'Internet Movie Critics Association' http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/5713/index.html

    and

    Member of the 'Online Film Critics Society'
    http://ofcs.org/ofcs/

The 1970's are on a roll. In 1997, the film 'Boogie Nights' opened to critical success. It's box office numbers were not as impressive, however. There was also 'The Last Days of Disco', released earlier this year and the Fox network is hoping to score big with 'That 70's Show' which just debuted recently and a brand new re-mastered version of the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack is available on CD. Personally, I found the 70's, as tacky as they were, as the decade with the best movies. I suppose some of the worst movies were also released in this time frame but checking the list, it certainly seems impressive. There's nothing tacky about such films as 'The Godfather' and its impressive sequel, 'Star Wars', 'The Deer Hunter', 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', 'Chinatown' and the list goes on and on.

Like 'Boogie Nights', the protagonist in '54' is a teenager on the verge of becoming a man. Ryan Phillippe stars as Shane, a dreamer and decadent minded young 19 year old who lives two miles across the river from New York City in New Jersey. He observes that while it's only two miles away, it seems like a whole other world. He lives with his two younger sisters and his father. His mother died when he was 12 and he struggles to find his way in life.

The film is set in 1979 and one night Shane and two of his friends make their way into Manhattan, hoping to get into the hottest nightclub in the world named 54. Hundreds gather outside the club each night in the hope of being admitted entrance to the club and the hopeful sheep are scrutinized carefully by the club's owner, Steve Rubell (Mike Myers). Most are turned away. Rubell only wants the best looking to mix with the VIP's in his club. He notes at one point that the nephew of the king of Saudi Arabia travels 7000 miles to come to the club for one night and then leaves the next morning and observes that it's the only place on Earth where he truly feels free.

Shane is later hired by Rubell as a bus boy and the constant theme that runs here and there in the film is a possible audit by the IRS. Rubell is fixing the cash register tapes and pocketing some of the cash as we see in some of the film's scenes.

Shane makes contact and eventually becomes friends with a young married couple who also work in the club. Greg and Anita (Brecklin Meyer and Salma Hayek) help Shane in showing him the nightly operations of the club and the demands Rubell makes on his staff are high indeed. Some prominent visitors the club are a wealthy socialite (Sela Ward) and a daytime soap opera star (Neve Campbell).

'54' is a film that is high on the intimacy of its characters but short on plot substance. It's atmosphere is well captured but the film ends up becoming a watered down version of 'Boogie Nights'. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, who made 'Boogie Nights', wrote his characters in close proximity with each other and gave their lives progress as he set the film over a course of six years. '54' barely makes it out of 1979 and has scenes of a repetitive nature and is riddled with cliched dialogue.

Writer/director Mark Christopher doesn't want to escape from the film's limited diversity but does make his characters interesting and Mike Myers is good as Steve Rubell. Myers has his accent down very well and the film is a good dramatic turn for Myers and he keeps pace with his colleagues Jim Carrey and Robin Williams who have jumped into the realm of serious films with great success. '54' won't quite do it for Myers but if he stays on track, he can hold his own with those other actors.

The rest of the cast in '54' reminded me somewhat of the characters in 1980's 'Fame'. A group of young people with dreams of reaching the big time and finding it through any means necessary. As the closing credits of '54' come into focus, snapshots of the real Steve Rubell are shown with very famous VIP's who frequented his club which closed in 1986 and Rubell died in 1989, closing the book on a chapter of popular culture which takes its place in the history of the 20th century.

    OUT OF 5 > * * 1/2

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