calvinnme except my memory lane was in Dallas, not New York City. I just fell in love with this film and its characters, characters who could only exist as they did and together in that very late disco period.Actually, Stillman got some things wrong, and maybe he did so on purpose. "Disco Destruction Night", occurred in July 1979, and he's got it happening "in the very early 80s" at about the mid point of the film. Since disco was completely dead - and its death was like that of one struck down suddenly by a heart attack - by the fall of 1980, he is probably aware of the anachronisms here, and just spun the tale as it was to prevent himself from basically making a yuppie version of Saturday Night Fever. Stillman must have been acutely aware of not wanting to be that film because, did you notice the film is devoid of even one song by the brothers Gibb, who are practically emblematic of the disco era? The film's focus is on a group of recent college grads in their early to mid 20's. You could call them friends but they are more like acquaintances, and they all frequent one particular disco. The center of the film is the pair of - I guess you'd call them friends - Alice and Charlotte. Alice is a quiet girl. I'd almost call her an Amish girl in sequined clothes and platform shoes by night, business attire and sensible shoes for her job in publishing by day. Charlotte is a mess. She went to the same college as Alice, and she seems to seek out a connection with Alice much more than vice versa, even though Charlotte is the outgoing one. But she is constantly putting Alice down, steering her the wrong way in her relationships, and blurting things out that embarrass Alice. Charlotte seems like the kind of person who just wants other people around to make her feel better about herself. Among the men in the group we have an ad man who must be able to get clients into the club or he'll be fired, a lawyer, and an assistant manager at the club who avoids commitment by telling women he is gay.In short, there is something unlikable about all of these people except maybe Alice, yet I found them fascinating. It's like "The Asphalt Jungle" (minus the crime) meets "Friends".All of these people are college educated, some at the Ivy Leagues, yet they are underpaid, and in the case of Charlotte and Alice, doing jobs that in any other city would go to high school grads. They mate, decouple with varying amounts of pain and drama, are living their youth at a time when they believe "The H" - herpes - is the worst thing that can happen to you, and when disco dies, proclaim that it just CAN'T be dead. It's not disco they are mourning, it is their passing from one phase of their youth to a more mature state, although I doubt they even realize it yet. A youth lived in the most exciting city in the world in a time of unique cultural acceptance and sexual freedom, and now they are forced to march on to a more constrained existence. Their post college adolescence is over.My favorite parts - Robert Sean Leonard as an environmental lawyer who seems sensitive at first yet denies his sexual partners certain vital "need to know" information, a hilarious deconstruction of Lady and the Tramp as only Harvard grads could do it, and the closing credits superimposed on what could almost be called a music video featuring "Love Train" that sends the film out on a joyful hopeful note. Just a few words about the plot - there really is none. If you are looking for an action picture look elsewhere. But if you like films filled with great dialogue I highly suggest it.

Rodrigo Amaro The plausible reason the Disco's gone in the 1980's, the period portrayed in the movie, was that people needed something different, something that would define a new era with new songs, new groups of people and many other things. Disco was becoming an corny attitude in the 1980's. Now we're entering in the movie. The reason given by the writer and director (this is my opinion based on the way I saw what was showed on the screen) Whit Stillman why Disco was through is that everybody focused on their work, they didn't have much time to go party, to dance and everybody's frustrated in their relationships (sexual relations and/or not helpful friends). Here we met all sort of characters, liars, arrogant, stressed, non trustful at all, but lacked one to make this movie nicer: the likable character. Where's it? Where was it? Why a friendly and nice, she or he, didn't appear in the whole movie? I didn't liked any of the characters and even the one I liked it in the beginning, turn out be a jerk.The ensemble cast is overwhelming. Chlöe Sevigny ("Boys Don't Cry"), Kate Beckinsale ("The Aviator"), Mackenzie Astin ("The Evening Star"), Robert Sean Leonard ("Dead Poets Society"), David Thornton ("Alpha Dog"), Matt Keeslar ("Splendor"), Chris Eigeman (I didn't remembered any other work with him but he's got a tremendous job in this movie), Matt Ross ("American Psycho") and Jennifer Beals ("Flashdance"). But none of them has a likable character. It's almost impossible to relate to one of them. The story itself was boring. People come and go out of the blue and their motivations on doing things are unfunny, ruthless and without a single care to bring the audience to the experience. The female characters are completely dead inside, talk to much and overreact to a simple touch of a stranger, or look into someone in the eyes and make an character judgment simply calling him as gay or non trustful. The ideological aspects in this sad movie doesn't work. If we're watching a movie that the main plot is to tell about the last days of disco why we're seeing people who aren't having fun, aren't dancing (dance in this movie was not convincing) and their only preoccupation is how to pay the rent? Only the discussion between "The Lady and The Tramp" was effective and kind of funny. I'm giving 5 stars to it because it was not a case of bad acting, and not even bad directing. The songs played in the movie are quite good but it lacked joyful moments where it could be played in a memorable way. The main problem is an story with no positive characters. In the middle of "The Last Days of Disco" there's a conversation between Kate and Chlöe and one of their bosses about how to make a best-seller's book. And the response of their boss is partially right and the writer of this movie should have thought about it and include some nice characters in it. Then this would be a hit! 5/10

gcd70 I do not believe anyone could make a film more boring than "The Last Days of Disco" if they had a thousand attempts. This pic works better than a sedative to numb the senses.If you manage to stay awake for the first hour and a half, you may then be treated to a few clever lines and original diatribes. Most of the movie is horribly contrived however.What really kills the film is the hopelessly uninteresting characters. The audience will quickly forget who was who, if they ever bother to figure it out. A terrible excuse for a disco flick.Friday, November 27, 1998 - Astor Theatre StKilda

tcasenyc-1 I'm only giving it a "2" because there were a couple of marginally interesting bits of dialogue, & the female leads were outstanding. But overall...WOW does this movie suck! All the things everyone has written before apply: non-period clothes, sets & props; pretentious dialogue that came off as totally banal & unrealistic; REALLY horrible acting (love that they make such a big deal out of the little part by JENNIFER BEALS!!! WOW is she a terrible, terrible actress, excruciating even!! ... & what was up w/ that dude who ran the club, the one w/ the greasy hair & monkey face? Did he EVER work again after this??); but my biggest complaint, which I've had about "54" & other films set in clubs, & which other reviewers have mentioned here, is...WHY do they make clubs look so incredibly BORING???? The TV miniseries "Tales of the City," famously set in 1970s San Francisco, had several totally believable period scenes in clubs & bars, as have many other movies in which discos figure heavily into the backdrop (Carlito's Way comes to mind). Like other reviewers here, I'm wondering: have the people associated w/ this film ever actually BEEN to a club? I have seen the three films in the Stillman "trilogy" now & am totally perplexed as to why this guy was hailed in the 90s as such a genius? I've come across much wittier (& better-written) graffiti on the toilet wall of my favorite bar, & a zillion blogs. Was his father or brother in the movie business? Seriously, WHO thinks this is remarkable film-making? These are very well done student films, at best. You know it's a bad sign when, 45 minutes into a movie, you start READING A BOOK (exactly what I did, looking up at the movie on occasion, then going back to the book). Save your time, you will thank me.