The Last Days of Disco
The Criterion Collection
The Last Days of Disco is a clever, comic return to the nighttime party scene in early eighties Manhattan from director Whit Stillman (Metropolitan). At the center of the film’s roundelay of revelers are the icy Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and the demure Alice (Chloë Sevigny), by day toiling as publishing house assistants and by night looking for romance and entertainment at a premier, Studio 54–like club. The Last Days of Disco is an affectionate yet unsentimental look at the end of an era, brimming with Stillman’s trademark dry humor.
Member Reviews
Awful! - SGRG
The acting seemed forced and contrived. We kept waiting for something to happen-it did both disco and the movie died! I had read a review of the director and was very disapointed in the both the content and actual acting. There was also nothing likeable about the characters.Brutal - Grounded
Why on earth would Criterion release this? I trust that brand, and this is easily the worst film I have seen with the elite Criterion logo. The acting, with the possible exception (shockingly) of Chloe Sevigny, is terrible. I usually am quite annoyed by Sevigny, but she is far above everyone else in this cast. The entire group of guys in this movie are just awful actors. Mackenzie Astin, the kid in late-era Facts Of Life is in this film for goodness sake. Tedious dialog, unconvincing acting, nonsensical plot - it's all here in this boring film.I like the nightlife.. - DarlingMagpie
I was totally surprised at how funny this movie was. Unlike some of the other films featuring the end of the disco era, The Last Days of Disco does a complete reversal and shows us the late-bloomers to the trend, insipid yuppies in denial about their place in life, striving to stick to an era that preceded them and is dead and dying.
The characters are mostly quite loathsome and unsympathetic, which is why watching them interact, pair up and fight with each other really entertaining. Kate Beckinsale is phenomenally bitchy as the catty friend, constantly trying to control her life situation with epic manipulation and sly bitchiness, while Chloe Sevigny's doe-eyed character acts as our eyes into this very strange world.
All in all, not a very deep historical representation of the end of disco, nor a compelling drama, but more a snippet of the end of an era featuring those that probably killed it anyway.
Member Reviews
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Awful! - SGRG
The acting seemed forced and contrived. We kept waiting for something to happen-it did both disco and the movie died! I had read a review of the director and was very disapointed in the both the content and actual acting. There was also nothing likeable ...Brutal - Grounded
Why on earth would Criterion release this? I trust that brand, and this is easily the worst film I have seen with the elite Criterion logo. The acting, with the possible exception (shockingly) of Chloe Sevigny, is terrible. I usually am quite annoyed by ...I like the nightlife.. - DarlingMagpie
I was totally surprised at how funny this movie was. Unlike some of the other films featuring the end of the disco era, The Last Days of Disco does a complete reversal and shows us the late-bloomers to the trend, insipid yuppies in denial about their place ...