director :   mark christopher cast :   ryan phillippe , mike myers , neve campbell , salma hayek , brecklin meyer screenplay :   mark christopher producers :   ira deutchman , richard n . gladstein , dolly hall runtime :   95 min . us distribution :   miramax rated r :   language , sex , drug use by nathaniel r . atcheson ( <a href= " mailto : nate@pyramid . net " >nate@pyramid . net</a> ) 54 is dull , perfunctory , uninspired , and boring . a greater writer might have created a lyrical sentence for each of those adjectives , flowing in lovely arangements with soaring metaphors . i , however , would rather cut to the chase . 54 is dull , perfunctory , uninspired , and boring . there is nothing in it -- not a glimpse of depth , nor a shimmer of intelligence or insight . there is no electricity in any of the scenes , or a moment of interest in the story or its subplots . and it's underdeveloped , and features an array of bland characters played by actors who think they're in this year's boogie nights . they are so wrong . the picture has been assembled by mark christopher . based on this film , i don't know how he got a job in the business . 54 is supposed to be an amazing insight into the world of the dance club of the same name , which originated in the 70s and closed down in the 80s . i don't know if this film went into production after boogie nights was released , but christopher has managed to plagiarize paul thomas anderson's brilliant work in every possible way , from the framework of the plot down to the style of the cinematography . what it lacks is everything that made boogie nights great : depth , intelligence , energy , fascinating characters , and challenging themes . 54 can't even measure up to the last days of disco , which is flawed , but still smart and entertaining . it's remarkably bad timing , i'd say , to release a film this tedious after a couple of noteworthy pictures of the same kind . i have exaggerated , though : there is one interesting character , and one terrific performance . that character is steve rubell , played with more perceptiveness by mike myers than this limp production deserves . steve rubell is the owner of studio 54 , and if christopher had focused on him , then myers could have forced a good film out of this wreck all by himself . alas , we are instead guided to endure the trials of a young man named shane ( ryan phillippe ) , a going-nowhere new jersey teen who gets a job in the club , thanks to rubell's homosexual impulses . it's here that he meets his friends , the array of uninteresting characters : his co-worker , greg ( brecklin meyer ) , his wife , anita ( salma hayek ) , and , of course , the love interest , julie black ( neve campbell ) . shane is just an innocent young fool in the beginning , and he has a reasonably sturdy home life . ( some of the scenes with his father border on interesting , while heather matarazzo , who plays his sister , pushes phillippe off the screen . ) but he decides to envelop himself in the disco scene , and succumb to peer pressure and to drugs . why his " friends " push him into drugs is never really explained , but the fact that they are " friends " is questioned only is superficial ways ( greg gets really mad at shane because he's been elevated to bartender status ) . there isn't a single conflict that takes center stage , except that shane has some kind of unexplored reservation with the business in which he works . most of the film is dumb , and most of the dialogue is inane . there's a scene late in the film in which shane confronts julie black , and , in the next scene , they're arm-in-arm without a bit of development . then , they're kissing in a bowling alley ! this is five minutes of material , thrown into the picture at the last minute ( well past the one-hour mark , and this isn't a long film to begin with ) . campbell is a talented actress , but she needs a role that gives her a little depth . this one doesn't . and phillippe has almost no presence whatsoever ; this performance pales in comparison to mark whalberg's star-making role in boogie nights . he seems dumb and misguided , and his voice never changes tone . i guess he was picked for the color of his hair and the shape of his body , but he seems pretty lanky to me . he's all wrong for a lead role , but it doesn't help that christopher has forgotten to develop his characters . by the end of 54 , shane's most notable trait is his stupid , fake accent . the rest of the performances are wasted . hayek is an energetic , talented young actress , and does almost nothing here . meyer is endearing , but allowed to be no deeper than cardboard . only myers , by sheer force of talent , manages to rise above christopher's wading-pool of a script . rubell has been written just as depthless as the rest of the characters , but myers is good enough to inject subtleties that help round out the performance . in fact , myers is the sole reason to see 54 , and all it really does is make you wish that the film had revolved around him . i've read that studio 54 has been recreated down to the last detail . frankly , i don't care . it's easy to recreate something technical like this . a fairly skilled production designer and a few carpenters can manage such a task . besides , christopher keeps the lights so low that the sets are invisible , anyway . aside from myers' performance , 54 is a complete failure . it's dull , perfunctory , uninspired , and boring . some may find my comparisons to boogie nights unfair , but they're so obvious to me . in any event , 54 is pallid without the contrast . it doesn't even work as mindless entertainment : it's so shallow that the most escapist viewers are likely to dismiss it . so , don't forget those key words : dull , perfunctory , uninspired , and boring . everything else i said was just padding . 
