54 (film)

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This article is about the 1998 drama film. For the documentary about Studio 54, see Studio 54 (film).
54
54 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMark Christopher
Written byMark Christopher
Produced byIra Deutchman
Richard N. Gladstein
Dolly Hall
Starring
Narrated byRyan Philippe
CinematographyAlexander Gruszynski
Edited byLee Percy
Music byMarco Beltrami
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
  • August 28, 1998 (1998-08-28)
Running time
93 minutes
105 minutes (Director's cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13 million[1]
Box office$16.8 million[2]

54 is a 1998 American drama film about Studio 54, a world-famous nightclub in New York City, written and directed by Mark Christopher. It stars Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, and Mike Myers as Steve Rubell, the club's co-founder. Prior to its release in 1998, the film was extensively reshot and recut,[3] and then released to poor critical reaction but a somewhat respectable box office. In 2008, a bootleg version of the director's cut was screened at Outfest, leading to interest for its release.[4] In 2015, Christopher and Miramax premiered a new edit of the film at the Berlin International Film Festival, with 45 minutes of original material restored and 30 minutes of studio re-shoots removed.[4]

Plot[]

In the summer of 1979, 19-year-old Irish-American gas jockey Shane O'Shea lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his widowed, conservative father Harlan and two younger sisters Grace and Kelly. Shane longs for a more glamorous life across the river in New York, so one night he talks his two friends into going to Studio 54, a disco nightclub. Once inside, Shane is exposed to the flashy, hedonistic world of 54, with unbridled alcohol, drugs, and open sex. Against his father’s wishes, Shane returns to 54 the next night and is hired by Steve as a busboy. Shane eventually moves out of his family's house in Jersey City after fighting with his father over his new job, and moves in with Greg and Anita in New York.

Both Shane and Greg want to become bartenders, since they get paid more money and have more status. After a short time bussing tables, Shane gets promoted to bartender with the help of a club regular Billie Auster, a customer who has a one-night stand with Shane. Shane's promotion causes tension with Greg as Greg feels that he didn't get the job because he wouldn't let Steve perform oral sex on him. Shane, now nicknamed “Shane 54” gains status and does an interview article/Christmas beefcake photo shoot for Interview Magazine, uses drugs, and sleeps around with multiple women as he "raises his profile" and makes a name for himself. This leaves Shane feeling only good for sex.

Shane’s fame also affects his relationships with his friends and family. Greg, who now deals drugs on the side for extra money, criticizes Shane for his conceited attitude on Christmas Eve and accuses him of trying to sleep with Anita after catching him making a pass at her once before at their apartment. Shane’s father Harlan, whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to since he moved to New York, rejects him when he comes home to visit on Christmas Day after a female family friend who got into 54 one night informs Harlan that she saw Shane doing drugs there. However, Shane does experience some brief happiness during the holidays when he strikes up a short-lived romance with his celebrity crush (and fellow New Jerseyan) Julie Black, a soap opera starlet determined to succeed in the film industry.

Shane, discovers Julie with Roland Sachs, an agent that she plans to sleep with, causing Shane to reject her. After he fights with Steve, Steve fires Shane and two of his [bouncers] throw Shane out of the club. Simultaneously, the FBI raids 54 and arrests Steve, as he’s been skimming money from the club’s nightly take. Shane leaves 54 in disgrace, Julie passes by him, and they part ways but agree to remain friends.

In the epilogue, Shane reveals that Steve is convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail, causing 54 to close as a result; upon release, he is forced to sell 54 but remains as a consultant under the new management. Julie, whom Shane still keeps in contact with, moves to Hollywood and gets a small part in a movie. Shane, Greg and Anita, however, drift apart. Anita records a moderately successful album with Casablanca Records, and Greg gets a job in construction after six months' probation for dealing drugs at 54. As for Shane himself, his relationship with his father has improved; he now visits his father and sisters weekly, he also works nights as a restaurant manager in Greenwich Village and takes business classes at NYU during the day. Greg and Anita reunite at the newly reopened 54, where Steve is hosting a one-night welcome-back party for all of his old friends and employees after his release from prison. Ultimately, 54 closes permanently in 1986, and Steve dies of AIDS in 1989 at age 45. Shane notes that though everybody assembled at 54 that night acted like normal, they all realized that “the party was over”.

Director's cut[]

Shane’s original sporadic narration from the theatrical version is eliminated. The films opens with a new narration by a 40-year-old Ryan Phillippe as his character Shane, now sounding much older, wiser, and cynical than his younger self, is seen leaving 54 after being thrown out on New Year’s Eve, and leads into a narration of the movie's original opening.

Shane is bisexual in the director's cut; even kissing Billie’s gay associate Julian in 54's basement VIP room. In a moment of confusion and desperation, Shane kisses Greg in the VIP room on Christmas Eve after they commiserate on their terrible childhood Christmases and Greg comforts Shane as Shane breaks down and cries over his miserable family life, but Greg immediately backs off, stunned by what he’s just done. Shortly after Shane kisses Greg, he then has sex with Anita in the ladies’ room after she and Greg have a fight, and Steve watches them for a bit until Anita sees Steve, hits Shane in the stomach, and runs out of the ladies' room in shame. When Shane runs low on cash due to his numerous debts, Greg lets him in on his drug-dealing operation, and Shane steals some of Steve's skimmed cash as capital, leading to Steve's accountant Viv getting fired (Greg is the thief in the theatrical version); Shane returns the money to Steve on New Year's Eve. When Greg is finally willing to allow Steve to perform oral sex on him for the bartender job on New Year's Eve, Steve turns him down and says that he'd rather watch Greg and Anita have sex instead, since he watched Shane and Anita do so in the ladies’ room on Christmas Eve. Greg then goes to the cloakroom to confront Anita, and upon seeing her hugging Shane, punches Shane in the face and gets into a fistfight with him. After fighting with Greg and seeing Julie with Roland, Shane freebases cocaine to ease his emotional pain, against Billie’s wishes, leaving him in a daze as he continues bartending. After Greg and Anita reconcile following her interrupted debut performance, Anita briefly leaves with Billie for a photo op. Shane then discovers G-men raiding Steve’s office, with Viv (who turned Steve in to the FBI) standing by; he runs back upstairs to the bar to warn Greg and he apologizes for what he did with Anita, but Greg ignores him. Greg then runs to get his things from his locker when he sees Shane being thrown out of the club, but discovers that a G-man has already beat him to it and has found his drugs. After Shane is thrown out of 54, he turns and sees Greg running up behind him. Shane offers him his garbage bag cloak, and Greg begrudgingly accepts, though still hurt by Shane's betrayal. Anita comes running up seconds later in a fancy fur coat and cloaks Greg in it with her as they both depart, nearly leaving Shane behind. Greg calls for Shane to come along with them just as Julie pulls up alongside in her limousine and offers Shane a ride as consolation after her decision to leave with Roland. Shane declines and instead leaves with Greg and Anita, the three of them staying together as a family instead of drifting apart.

Cast[]

Production[]

Based on two short films Mark Christopher made, Miramax Films persuaded Christopher to direct the full-length feature about Studio 54. He had spent five years researching the club and the time period while working on a screenplay. Miramax purchased a partial screenplay in 1995 and developed the script with the filmmaker for over a year.[5]

Christopher shot the film in Toronto over two months in the fall of 1997.[6] However, studio head Harvey Weinstein and Christopher differed on their respective visions of the film. Christopher intended for the film to capture Studio 54’s notoriety as “the epicenter of the gay cultural explosion in New York City,” and wanted the story to be told from the perspective of “Shane, a kid from New Jersey who sleeps his way to the top of the 54 pecking order, which means that he becomes one of the shirtless bartenders for which the club was notorious, golden boys who flexed and preened for the clientele of both sexes, occasionally deigning to grant sexual favors in return for money and drugs”.[7] Conversely, Weinstein wanted a more commercial film in the vein of Saturday Night Fever, with its gay storyline removed.[8]

Weinstein screen tested Christopher’s cut of the film in Long Island in early 1998. Audiences at this screening reacted negatively to the lead character's bisexuality, particularly to a scene where Shane and Greg kiss as well as the happy ending for both characters and Anita.[9] Miramax subsequently requested the film remove any suggestions of bisexuality.[10] The post-production process was a troubled one, with Weinstein hiring a second writing team to flesh out new scenes that play up a romance between Shane and Julie.[8] Christopher was not allowed in the editing room, and though he agreed to shoot the new scenes after initial resistance, he did not get to see the final cut.[8][11]

Reception[]

54 opened at #4 in its opening weekend (August 28–30, 1998) with $6,611,532 behind Blade, There's Something About Mary, and Saving Private Ryan.[12]

Studio cut[]

The studio cut of the film received almost universally poor reviews but was a modest commercial success, grossing $16 million[2] on an estimated budget of $13 million.[1] Mike Myers, in his first serious dramatic role, garnered some of the film's only positive word-of-mouth.[13][14][15] The role was Myers’ only foray into drama until 2009's Inglourious Basterds and 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Though some critics noted Christopher manages to “[re-create] the club’s playfully subversive physical details: the glitter confetti and giant silver man-in-the-moon cokehead mobile, the VIP room hidden in the dank basement”,[16] many were particularly disappointed with the film's fictional characters and storyline, believing that Studio 54's notorious, real-life past should have been explored more in detail and with better realism.[16][17]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 17%, based on 69 reviews, and an average rating of 4.19/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Robbed of its integral LGBTQ themes, 54 is a compromised and disjointed glance at the glory days of disco".[18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[19]

The 1998 film was nominated for two Razzie Awards, including Worst Actor for Ryan Phillippe and Worst Supporting Actress for Ellen Albertini Dow.[20] Neve Campbell was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress (also for Wild Things) at the 1998 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.[21]

Director’s cut[]

In the years after the theatrical cut's release, a bootleg VHS version of the two-hour-long rough cut began circulating. Strong word of mouth and support led to New York LGBTQ film festival Outfest screening the rough cut to a sold-out crowd in 2008.[13] Christopher and his co-producer Jonathan King had been lobbying Miramax for years to allow them to remaster the director's cut for DVD. In 2014, the filmmakers received the greenlight to make 54: The Director's Cut from Zanne Devine, Miramax's then-VP of production.[4] They completed the film in time for a screening in the Panorama section at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015.[4][22] The 105 minute-long cut included 44 minutes of restored footage, with all but a few seconds of the studio-dictated re-shot footage jettisoned.[23]

The director's cut has received a much more positive critical response,[24][25][26] and the film has a huge cult following among the LGBT community.[13] Of 54: The Director's Cut, critic Louis Jordan wrote, "Driven by character and atmosphere rather than soapy plot, Christopher’s film is permeated by a melancholy that adds depth to the ecstatic party scenes. Mike Myers nails the pathos and charm behind Rubell’s ‘luded-out lechery, while Phillippe’s measured performance, finally given space to breathe, is vulnerable, amoral, and sexy. There are no easy heroes or villains in this 54, only people looking for something they’ll likely never find."[13]

Home media[]

A 2012 Blu-ray release features several additional and alternate scenes that were not included in the theatrical release.[27] This extended cut runs 100 minutes, eight minutes of which are not in the studio's 92-minute release. Miramax and Lionsgate Home Entertainment released 54: The Director's Cut in digital HD on streaming video providers on June 2, 2015.[28] A Blu-ray version of this cut was released in 2016.[29]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Business Data for 54 (1998)". IMDb. Archived from the original on January 7, 2005.
  2. ^ a b "54". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  3. ^ "Film Review: Studio 54 | Film Journal International". fj.webedia.us. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  4. ^ a b c d Lattanzio, Ryan (2015-07-09). "How '54: The Director's Cut' Was Resurrected From 1998 Disaster to New Gay Cult Classic". IndieWire.
  5. ^ Biskind (2004), pp. 293-294, p. 322
  6. ^ Biskind (2004), p. 320
  7. ^ Biskind (2004), p. 293
  8. ^ a b c Biskind (2004), pp. 322-323
  9. ^ Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca (4 September 1998). "The 411 On '54'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008.
  10. ^ Biskind (2004), p. 321
  11. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (14 July 2015). "Mark Christopher: 54: The Director's Cut". KCRW.
  12. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 28–30, 1998". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.
  13. ^ a b c d Jordan, Louis (February 16, 2015). "54 Bombed in 1998. Now It's Been Resurrected as a Cult Gay Classic". Vulture.
  14. ^ LaSalle, Mick (August 28, 1998). "'70s Glitz Is About All That Sparkles in `54'". SF Gate.
  15. ^ O’Sullivan, Michael (August 28, 1998). "'54' (R)". Washington Post.
  16. ^ a b Gleiberman, Owen (September 4, 1998). "Movie Review: '54'". EW.com.
  17. ^ Holden, Stephen (August 28, 1998). "'54': As in Studio". The New York Times.
  18. ^ "54 (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  19. ^ "Home - Cinemascore". Cinemascore. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  20. ^ Wilson, John (September 3, 2007). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywoods Worst. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0446510080. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Past Winners Database". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007.
  22. ^ "54: The Director's Cut". Berlinale.
  23. ^ "Panorama 2015: Probing the Past to Shape the Future". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 2014-12-25. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  24. ^ "Berlin 2015 review: 54: The Director's Cut – a disco-era Cabaret thrusting its way to delirium". The Guardian. February 12, 2015.
  25. ^ Kozak, Oktay Ege (June 2, 2015). "Review: '54: The Director's Cut' With Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Mike Myers, Breckin Meyer, And Neve Campbell". IndieWire.
  26. ^ "54: The Director's Cut review: Restored director's cut reveals the allure of decadence". The Sydney Morning Herald. June 10, 2015.
  27. ^ "54 Blu-ray", Blu-ray.com, March 6, 2012
  28. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (April 28, 2015). "'54: The Director's Cut' Comes to Digital HD in All Its Hedonistic Glory". IndieWire.
  29. ^ "54 Blu-ray (The Director's Cut)". Blu-ray.com.

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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