The Last Days of Disco (1998)

71% of critics liked it
(55 reviews)
59% of users liked it
(5,685 ratings)

As another installment of Whit Stillman's trilogy, The Last Days of Disco fits chronologically between Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994), with several cameos overlapping and linking the films. During "the very early 1980s," friends gather at a popular Manhattan disco club reminiscent of… More As another installment of Whit Stillman's trilogy, The Last Days of Disco fits chronologically between Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994), with several cameos overlapping and linking the films. During "the very early 1980s," friends gather at a popular Manhattan disco club reminiscent of Studio 54, where getting past the velvet ropes and inside was the first step. Edgy ad-exec Jimmy (Mackenzie Astin) can sometimes get his clients in with the help of the club's womanizing assistant manager, his pal Des (Chris Eigeman), who lets them enter via the rear door. Beautiful brunette Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and her former college classmate Alice (Chloe Sevigny) move about the club during the 24-minute opening club sequence. Attorney Tom (Robert Sean Leonard) takes an interest in calm, reserved Alice. Both Alice and the opinionated, assertive Charlotte hold day jobs as entry-level editorial associates at a small book publisher. With Holly (Tara Subkoff) as a third roommate, the trio rents a railroad flat in the Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood. Charlotte throws dinner parties in an effort to solidify a social circle as an alternative to "the ferocious pairing off" around her. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr.
Directed By: Whit Stillman
Written By: Whit Stillman
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: May 29, 1998 Wide
On DVD: Dec 8, 1998
Studio: Gramercy

Critic Reviews

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Sharp-eyed and charming.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
In spite of itself -- in spite of Stillman -- this is a lively and often endearing entertainment.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
[Stillman] nails his characters with perfectly heard dialogue and laconic satire.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
If it had been Stillman's swan song, a director could hardly hope to be prouder of such a strong exit.
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
Stillman skips the snark in favor of a sincere appreciation of his slightly lost characters.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
Stilillman pulls off a unique balancing act of conveying the specificities of the cultural milieu but also maintaining a sense of universality that keeps the film from being solely about its time and place
Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine
Criterion's DVD will not only satisfy but validate the cult surrounding one of the best and most relevant films of the 1990s.
Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine
The focus of The Last Days of Disco is a psychologically authentic and painfully parasitic female relationship.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The single finest moment in The Last Days of Disco comes at the end, during the credits... The scene is alive and exciting, and I wish there were more of that in the movie.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The movie is only partially successful in conveying the passion, the erotic heat, the decadence that characterized discos as the new temples.
Fred Topel, About.com
Solid period piece with good dialogue. Standard relationship stuff, but well done.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

Whit Stillman's subtle but profound take on the fallacy of indulgent self importance. Don't let the title put you off, <i>The Last Days of Disco</i> is an underrated gem!
Bruce B

This Movie is from Criterion Collection, most movies from this collection are pretty good, but this one is not. It Sucks. Its about the Eighties Time Frame, and shows the lives of a number of people throughout the Movie. To me the movie made little sense, and had about every disco… More
This Movie is from Criterion Collection, most movies from this collection are pretty good, but this one is not. It Sucks. Its about the Eighties Time Frame, and shows the lives of a number of people throughout the Movie. To me the movie made little sense, and had about every disco song in it. 1 1/2 stars for effort.
Walter M

In "The Last Days of Disco," Alice(Chloe Sevigny) and Charlotte(Kate Beckinsale) are two comely editorial assistants who are admitted into a trendy club every night on looks alone. Des(Chris Eigeman), a manager at the club, is under pressure not to admit Jimmy(Mackenzie… More
In "The Last Days of Disco," Alice(Chloe Sevigny) and Charlotte(Kate Beckinsale) are two comely editorial assistants who are admitted into a trendy club every night on looks alone. Des(Chris Eigeman), a manager at the club, is under pressure not to admit Jimmy(Mackenzie Astin) because he is in advertising and therefore scum. Des also thinks he is gay after watching an episode of Wild Kingdom.(Not "Animal Kingdom" which I'll be reviewing next.) Regardless, Josh(Matt Keeslar, of "The Middleman"), an ADA, thinks the whole scene is cool. At the end of the night, Alice goes home with Tom(Robert Sean Leonard). Writer-director-producer Whit Stillman tries in vain with "The Last Days of Disco" to have something intelligent to say about the transition stage from college to first job, as these characters are in the process of moving on from friends they barely like to spouses they tolerate just enough to not kill them in their sleep. The movie is set in the waning days of disco, a party that was about to end for all.(By the way, we make fun of John Travolta for all the bad movies he has made while Olivia Newton-John is still cool because she has been on "Glee" twice.) I could have tolerated the movie's sour tone if it had not been so excessively talky on every single subject under the sun and there had been more of a plot which sneaks in just under the wire.
Anthony V

Unappreciated.