Burr Steers, Chloë Sevigny, Chris Eigeman

Young Manhattanites boogie-oogie-oogie, in Whit Stillman's Proustian exploration of urban manners, discarded innocence and the onset of modern times.

Flixster Users

60% liked it

1,135 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

49 critics

R, 1 hr. 52 min.

Directed by: Whit Stillman

Release Date: May 29, 1998

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DVD Release Date: December 8, 1998

 

Stats: 202 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (202)


  • October 28, 2009
    The films of Whit Stillman are known for their young and completely directionless characters - they're certainly intelligent, but their lives are simply composed of what's in at that particular time. They're yuppies, thoroughly dislikable characters who, despite a facade of confi...( read more)dence, are terribly insecure. The challenge, of course, is making a film about these sort of people that'll still resonate with the average movie-goer. Although he may have done it in the two films he made prior to his 1998 effort, "The Last Days of Disco", the disco floors of his third film are surprisingly devoid of energy. It's a bit of a tedious procedural, an exceedingly well-written satire unfortunately dampened by characters so dull that you won't even be mildly curious to see what happens to them.

    We begin in Manhattan, during "the very early 1980's". Alice (Chloe Sevigny) and Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) are two recent college graduates out for a night of dancing at a popular disco. Charlotte is the out-going one, intelligent, but, unbeknownced to her, exceedingly cruel. Alice is perhaps the only character in the film that maintains a sort of respectability, given that she actually has ambition - yet she remains in Charlotte's shadow, a timid girl obviously not as well adjusted to the disco scene as her accomplice.

    Working as a manager at the club is the arrogant womanizer, Des (Chris Eigeman, one of Stillman's favorites). He has a nasty habit of dumping women by revealing that, while watching "Wild Kingdom", he discovered he was gay. He also opposes Shakespearean ideals by suggesting that one should not be true to thine own self if thine own self is not so good.

    The film frequently returns to the disco as we continue to meet with the familiar faces - Jimmy (Mackenzie Astin), a junior ad executive, Josh (Matthew Keeslar), an assistant district attorney, and so on - there's generically handsome young men aplenty. Unfortunately, however, although we're given all the time in the world to get to know these people, they still fail to leave an impression. The film's final sequence would leave you to believe that the only passion that comes from these kids is on the dance floor, but throughout the entire film the music had been mostly reduced to background noise. Stillman fails to shed any sort of light on disco culture, which means that his setting becomes nowhere near the character it should be.

    I shouldn't be too harsh - there are some very memorable lines ("that's like something out of the Nazis!"), great performances, and it's unquestionably a technically well-made picture. Perhaps I expected too much, however, as I found "The Last Days of Disco", despite all of it's deliciously clever dialogue, to be merely passable entertainment.
  • March 4, 2008
    Unappreciated.
  • November 8, 2009
    Good Music, obviously
  • September 5, 2009
    I just like how characters in s Stillman movie talk, they feel so normal and vibrant and this film with my favourite Chloe Sevigny is testament to his innate talent for discovering the silver among the clouds around us.
  • May 28, 2009
    This is a late at night cable TV type of movie. It's watchable. It's not a great movie but it's sort of fun if you're in the mood. It's also somewhat better than I thought it would be.
  • April 21, 2009
    A good movie about an exclusive disco back in the day. There is a lot of dialog. It is the only place I heard similar thoughts to my own on"Lady and the Tramp" and "be true to thine self"
  • March 25, 2009
    Wanted to puke in the opening sequences, quickly turned the devil mix off
  • August 12, 2008
    A great ending to the trilogy
  • July 27, 2008
    boring movie from start to finsh,Thank god Kate was in it

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

[Stillman] nails his characters with perfectly heard dialogue and laconic satire. full review

January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

In its last hour, the picture becomes more clumsy and tiresome, but the stray laugh and the disco sound keep it pulsing. full review

View more The Last Days of Disco reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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