The Last Days of Disco

An exploration of the N.Y.C. nightlife set in the fall of the very early 1980s, a key transitional period in which disco was slowly becoming a thing of the past as seen through the eyes of two young women (and recent college graduates) who are polar opposites: passive, impressionable Alice Kinnon, and icy, superficial Charlotte Pingress. Though they maintain a close companionship while working for the same publishing company, they have drastically different ideas of how to climb the social ladder while frequenting the nightclub scene. Engaging, well-acted, and insightful, with believable characters and crisp dialogue, but despite an impressive look at the era-plus some great tunes that come with the time period-it's hard to avoid a feeling of redundancy after a while. **½

A group of 20-somethings led by Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny frequent a Manhattan disco in the early-1980s. Everyone in the group seems to be searching for something but most are not quite sure what. Talkative dribble has young adults acting like they are in a mid-life crisis. Makes itself out to be smart and witty, but is more contrived and silly. Beckinsale looks good, but shows no acting ability. Sevigny is annoying and out-of-place. Everyone else, along with the female leads, are shallow and flat caricatures. The production wants to express nostalgia and compassion to a part of contemporary history (the disco era) that ran its course by the time the 1980s rolled around. Instead the movie is a giant sleeping pill that talks itself into a corner that it never does get out of. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).

Third chronologically, but second logically of a divine trilogy, this look at the cusp between youth and adulthood in 80s New York shows Whit Stillman's Metropolitan wasn't just a flash in the pan, and 'Barcelona' didn't signal a slow decline. Gorgeous characterisation with magic Chloë Sevigny shining from her every frame. And if, like me, you though disco music was crass, this elevates it to another plane... A film for all ages.

Back in '98, it was "The Last Days of Disco" soundtrack I'd bought, trying to get into the genre (just look at the song list, a better disco primer there ain't). If a CD can wear out, it would've been that one. Fantastic album. As for the rest of the movie - which I just got around to actually seeing . . . well it's not that I need a plot to enjoy a movie, just that the dialogue used to carry this one emanated from characters I really didn't like. Credit Whit Stillman's ear for dialogue, but there's also a vapidity to these people (ivy league educated but they've got no damn sense). It really was the music that kept me watching this. Although it seems the only thing that can sour a good Bernard Williams bassline is a proceeding Blondie song (agh!). One other thing about this; that can't be what they thought the early '80s looked like. Outside of the workplace scenes, these actors could've stepped onto the streets of 1998 with no crowd reactions. It's bizarre. 5/10

Really didn't enjoy this film even though it came highly recommended by some friends. None of the characters were likable and all of the male characters just blended into one another. The group of characters just repeatedly go to a highly regarded disco club and have relentless, banal conversation. It's a talking movie like a Linklater film only nowhere near as good. There's a very thin sub-plot about tax evasion and drug taking at the club but it really doesn't add any substance. The club had no appeal, the music had no appeal, the characters had no appeal and the story had no appeal.

Well, before you see this, ask yourself if you either: a) want to engorge yourself with lengthy witty banter, or b) see a Wasp-y version of the weaving of people in and out of relationships like Seinfeld or Woody Allen but with a bigger cast? If your answer is yes, this is your movie. If not, not. This movie is FAR more like Stillman's others (Metropolitan and Barcelona) than like anything you've seen about disco - which is simply the background. I was surprised that these yuppie characters were so freely admitted to Studio 54 (the set of the film), but perhaps it indicates disco's waning popularity by the early 1980s. I enjoyed it very much - but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

"The Last Days of Disco" follows a group of newly minted adults in the New York of the early 1980s. They're affluent, and recent products of Ivy League educations but they really don't have much of a clue as to what adulthood is all about. They're groping, but they're not sure for what. They all have jobs, but their lives revolve around a posh disco where they mate, mingle, and talk. There's not much of a plot; "The Last Days of Disco" is mostly a series of conversions. But the conversions are wonderful. Whit Stillman's dialogue is a delight; he nails what its like during those first years of adulthood when the life of the group is replaced by a mature individuality. The ensemble cast is wonderful to watch, not overplaying their characters. I recommend this movie very highly