The Last Days of Disco (1998)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Whit Stillman

Writer:

Whit Stillman (writer)

Release Date:

29 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

History is made at night.

Plot:

Story of two women trying to find love at the end of the disco era.

Plot Keywords:

Disco | Love | Sex | Hit In The Face | Unemployment

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Chloë Sevigny	...	Alice
Kate Beckinsale	...	Charlotte
Chris Eigeman	...	Des
Mackenzie Astin	...	Jimmy
Matt Keeslar	...	Josh
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Tom
Jennifer Beals	...	Nina
Matt Ross	...	Dan (as Matthew Ross)
Tara Subkoff	...	Holly
Burr Steers	...	Van
David Thornton	...	Bernie
Jaid Barrymore	...	Tiger Lady
Sonsee Neu	...	Diana (as Sonsee Ahray)
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Victor
Scott Beehner	...	Adam

MPAA:

Rated R for some elements involving sexuality and drugs.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the background of the street scenes you can see car models made in the 90's not 80's.

Quotes:

[Josh describes Lady and the Tramp]
Josh Neff: [referring to Lady and the Tramp] There is something depressing about it, and it's not really about dogs. Except for some superficial bow-wow stuff at the start, the dogs all represent human types, which is where it gets into real trouble. Lady, the ostensible protagonist, is a fluffy blond Cocker Spaniel with absolutely nothing on her brain. She's great-looking, but - let's be honest - incredibly insipid. Tramp, the love interest, is a smarmy braggart of the most obnoxious kind - an oily jailbird out for a piece of tail, or...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in When Disco Ruled the World (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rockin' Chair

the dialogue is fresh and chances are you'll be grinning from here to Bolivia when the "Love Train" rolls through the subway at the end.

`You have no idea what men think about women's breasts,' womaniser Des McGrath (Christopher Eigeman) pleads. No, not a rehash of Boogie Nights, but the third instalment, following Metropolitan and Barcelona, of Whitman's `yuppie' odyssey.

This New York yarn centres on publishing assistants Charlotte (flawless snotty American accent by Kate Beckinsale) and her best friend/biggest rival Alice (Chloe Sevigny). Bitchy Charlotte - `In physical terms, I'm cuter than you, but you're much nicer than I am,' - and Alice fall in with a parade of self-absorbed fellows in pullovers and drab ties. The `verbal' action between this set of intellectual folk takes place at a ludicrous dance palace in the very early 80s, with the `disco movement' decaying and Reagan's soul-devouring materialism taking hold.

In the main these are disagreeable people, but as much as you urge yourself to loathe them, you can't quite do it. Whitman's wildly self-indulgent and witty script (`Do you think the neurological effects of caffeine are similar to that of cocaine?') makes them impossible to ignore and eventually their awfulness becomes disturbingly compelling. A bit like Friends, only without dumb Joey and flaky Phoebe.

Although, aesthetically and visually Whitman's film doesn't quite ring true – clothing looks too 90s and they'd never be able to talk so much in a club – the dialogue is fresh and chances are you'll be grinning from here to Bolivia when the "Love Train" rolls through the subway at the end.

- Ben Walsh