Rating: 
Summary: My favorite movie of 1998.
Review: Just as I loved "Metropolitan" when it was released in the early 90's, this was a wonderful homecoming after a less than enthralling "Barcelona." To me, "The Last Days of Disco" was the perfect summer movie. Released around the same time as the mind-numbing "Armagedon," I felt like I had sat down for two hours of conversation with some good friends. The thing I enjoyed most about this movie is that we are shown both the highs and the lows of these character's lives. And although there has been much criticism of their narcissism, I find these people very real and very refreshing. I feel that Whit Stillman captures a class of people, a time of life, a social milieu, and a part of history with such dead on accuracy that I was just in awe as the movie unfolded. I saw the movie three times in the theater and was moved to tears each time by the end scene on the train. To me it so perfectly brought the movie to a close, and, sums up the experience of life with such precision: the pain, the humiliation, the joy, the beauty, the excitement, and the struggles we all experience on a daily basis, but in the end, being alive really is something to dance about.
Rating: 
Summary: A funny, witty, intelligent parody of disco's death.
Review: If you enjoy off-beat humor, more of the subtle, campy type, you may just love this movie. It exposes the social side of New York's elitist disco scene at the end of its era in the early 80s. Intelligent and witty dialogue among Ivy League graduate ad execs and publishing industry entrants capture the target audience in a manner that will either keep you on the edge of your seat or lose you and cause your eyes to roll up in your head. This was a refreshing look at intelligent people trying to better their career and social life in a realistic way while ridiculing the yuppie "me generation" of the early 80s. Very little violence, great dialogue, and atypical, witty humor. It is a great escapist movie which allows us to reflect on our own personal life. Best watched sober.
Rating:
Summary: Disco Generation
Review: If it were not for Whit Stillman -- the producer, writer and director of The Last Days of Disco -- I might have completely lost faith in original American filmmaking. As it is, he is my favorite living American director. His films show his tight grasp on the lost art of dialogue and repartee, and his characters are lively with the wit he infuses in them. When The Jazz Singer was released in 1927 it set the modern stage with talking pictures; in the '90s a talkie could be anything that Whit Stillman has written. TLDOD is the story of six upper class college graduates finding their way in life among the disco clubs of the early '80s. Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and Alice (Chloë Sevigny) knew each other at college and ruminate on their marriage prospects among the enthusiasts ("I could never go out with someone in advertising" Charlotte declares.) There is Des (Chris Eigeman) who is manager of an exclusive club in N.Y. and his advertising executive-in-training buddy, Jimmy (MacKenzie Astin), who constantly brings his clients to the club to impress them. Later on, Josh (Matthew Keeslar) shows up as the young A.D.A. who had a manic depressive experience in college. Charlotte eventually ends up with what she despises, Jimmy, and Alice tries her hand with Tom (Robert Sean Leonard), an environmental lawyer. After a one-night stand where she used a few patented lines Charlotte suggested he confronts her wide-eyed that he loathes the dating and mating game that they have played and thinks her somewhat slutty. She did it for image and to stay in the "in" crowd and got burned. Ms. Beckinsale plays Charlotte to a tee as the pretty friend who is self-absorbed and catlike in her admonishments to Alice: she says matter-of-factly that she would be considered cuter than Alice by "most standards" and, after Alice declines an alcoholic beverage, inquires in front of everyone if Alice has contracted a venereal disease. Chris Eigeman is his wonderfully sardonic self (his pairings with Stillman make him not unlike Lynch/MacLachlan or Truffaut/Léaud in memorable collaborations) and fleshes out Des as the smarmy cad that he is. In the best scene I witnessed this year there was a roundtable discussion of the merits of Lady and the Tramp by all the key players. From Alice finally finding and asserting her voice and Des sticking up for the redemptive qualities of Tramp, to Josh agreeing with Alice it is a priceless bit of filmmaking. Only later on does the film turn to a more serious note -- where you see the ugliness of the drug scene for instance-- but the complex story and excellent visual prose overshadow the fringe thematic elements. Though I loathe disco music Stillman crafts one of the best films of this year and creates a memorable movie. As one of the players proclaims about disco: "As you'll remember, for many years there was none." Thank god.
Rating: 
Summary: The most pretentious movie of 1998
Review: For those who yearn nostalgically for the days of K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, et al., this movie will not satisfy that need. The movie is centered around two female friends working in the publishing industry who spend their spare time at the local disco searching for the true meaning of life. The main characters, along with the other players, are characatures of 70's stereotypes. The movie relies upon the most superficial aspects of the disco-era; drugs, promiscuous sex, and so forth in the most formulaic and predictable fashion. The movie also relies upon pretentious 'too hip' dialogue, narcissistic characters, and an unbelievable story line. Those truly knowledgable about the era will note a bit of incorrect history when the movie, set in the early 80's, refers to the disco demolition that took place at Comiskey Park in 1979 as a contemporaneous event. Finally, none of the characters are even slightly worthy of sympathy. You'll be delighted when the movie ends. Recommendation: avoid this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant Post-Grad Film
Review: Having just graduated from college and moved to the Big Apple when I saw this film, The Last Days of Disco was a real treat to watch. The witty banter is terrific, except when Stillman overdoes the pop-culture critique of the hidden messages of Disney's Lady in the Tramp in one scene that seems to go on forever. The characters are well-developed; from the shallowness of Kate Beckinsale's character: "techinally, I am a little bit cuter than you...", to the manipulative nature of the lawyer Sevigny's character hooks up with in the beginning of the film. Chloe Sevigny portrays her character with such purity and honesty; it is through her that we experience the sweetness and the painful disillusionment of the group's coming of age. One of my favorite films-- too bad the VHS version has been recut from the one that I saw in the theater...
Rating:
Summary: truth, relevance, wit, and emotional honesty
Review: okay, i understand that this film is not for everyone. but how highly do i think of it? well, i own only 5 movies (kieslowski's 'trois couleurs' trilogy, 'blade runner,' 'austin powers'), and i am pre-ordering this on DVD as number 6. i saw it in a theatre first and was frustrated that i could not hit pause and rewind, because i wanted to savor and digest the nuggets of insight and wit that these characters simply toss off in rapid-fire succession -- single lines of insight and wit that exceed that of other, entire films combined. yes, the characters are all otherworldly super-duper-intelligent and/or articulate, and of a very particular milieu. i suppose not everyone will relate to this film or its characters. i suppose the ideal viewer is an overeducated bourgeois idealist who is consistently amazed and shocked at the world's simultaneous capacity for dishonesty, dissatisfaction, and true love; or, more simply, someone who loves the films of eric rohmer and/or woody allen, or enjoyed "the importance of being earnest," or simply liked "metropolitan." if you fit any of those categories (or any similar category), though, this is the kind of film that you think about on the walk home from the theatre, that leads you to think about your own relationships, your own life. yikes!
Rating:
Summary: Equal to, or the best, Stillman "social trilogy" film
Review: When watching a Stillman film, one should take it with a grain of salt. He has the ability to simply give an observation on the type of persons populating his films, who are usually rich, sheltered, urbane and dangerously pretentious. The importance of what he shows is that one could identify with the characters, or perhaps see someone they know. Although I grew up in the rural south, I was still able to identify with the actions and thoughts of the characters in "Disco". Much is made of Kate Beckinsale's painfully superficial and 'bitchy' character--however, it Chloe Sevigny who brings a sense of 'everyman(person)' and an honesty and morality to the rather directionless and morally ambivalent folks throughout the movie. It is the poetic justice of seeing Chloe succeed despite her social insecurities--and seeing Matt Kesslar follow his ideals and a moral code which wins him a girl he falls for, which made this a joy to watch for me. The moments of social dissection using "Lady of Tramp" and the epitome of mid-twenties life, the Unemployment Office, provide hilarious elements of droll humor. I identify with alot of the events in Stillman's movies, even though I never said the things that are said. Scares me a little, but I think moviegoers know or are those people in his films--and it scares them too. "Metropolitan" and "Barcelona" are important to view first before taking in this small breath of fresh air. As a sidenote, the music to "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" preludes the beginning of "Metropolitan"--I believe that is reference to the Protestantism of the lives of Stillman's characters thoughout this "WASP Social trilogy"--and makes it an interesting aspect of these films in this age of political correctness and leftism of Hollywood.
Rating: 
Summary: Empty Characters Make the Viewer Hope for the Worst
Review: Let me say first, that I have not seen "Metropolitan" or "Barcelona". Therefore, it seems as if I have joined the middle of a conversation at a dinner party of which the subject is a mystery. What I do know is the characters in "Disco" have absolutely no redeeming qualities! They are a group of pretentious, selfish twinks who care for nothing except who they have to trample to get what they want. Stillman is asking for too much suspension of disbelief from the viewer as he expects one to accept that such emotionless, stiff, orchestrated dialogue takes place spontaneously in real life. Except for Kate Beckinsdale (a treat in "Cold Comfort Farm"), the actors in this film appear as if they have simply memorized a couple of pages from the script, and shot the corresponding scene five minutes later. Beckinsdale's psychologial manipulation of her rooommate is an interesting sub-plot to watch develop, but by the end of the film, for which I grew more and more impatient, I began to wish for an automobile accident or meteor from "Armageddon" to kill them all!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie of 1998.
Review: Just as I loved "Metropolitan" when it was released in the early 90's, this was a wonderful homecoming after a less than enthralling "Barcelona." To me, "The Last Days of Disco" was the perfect summer movie. Released around the same time as the mind-numbing "Armagedon," I felt like I had sat down for two hours of conversation with some good friends. The thing I enjoyed most about this movie is that we are shown both the highs and the lows of these character's lives. And although there has been much criticism of their narcissism, I find these people very real and very refreshing. I feel that Whit Stillman captures a class of people, a time of life, a social milieu, and a part of history with such dead on accuracy that I was just in awe as the movie unfolded. I saw the movie three times in the theater and was moved to tears each time by the end scene on the train. To me it so perfectly brought the movie to a close, and, sums up the experience of life with such precision: the pain, the humiliation, the joy, the beauty, the excitement, and the struggles we all experience on a daily basis, but in the end, being alive really is something to dance about.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Witty Film about the Disco Era
Review: Directed by the amazing Whit Stillman ("Barcelona"; "Metropolitan"), "The Last Days of Disco" examines the life of several young, upward, professionals (or "yuppies" for short) during the early 1980's, when the disco craze was dying and the Decade of Decadence was beginning. Alice (Chloë Sevigny of "Boys Don't Cry") and Charlotte (Kate Beckisndale of "Brokedown Palace") are two young publishing assistants who live as roommates in the city. Living on a love/hate relationship with one another, both girls decide to socialize with New York's club elite at the most popular club in the city. There, they meet up with the likes of advertising execs and employees, odd club characters such as the Tiger Lady (played by Drew Barrymore's real-life mother, Jaid Barrymore) and others who give the film a unique flavor when it comes to recreating the disco era of the late 1970's/early 1980's. While I really can't give away the details that moves the film to its' conclusion, all I can say that this film blows away the only other disco-era film that was released around the same time, "Studio 54." While the latter tried to recreate the final days of New York City's most infamous nightspot, it failed to capture the energy that disco era was well-known for. Unlike "Studio 54," instead of revolving around the life of one character, "Last Days" focuses on the lives of several young professionals, which gives it more flavor and attraction. Personally, Whit Stillman simply is one of the best American directors out there. His films all involve wit, energy, love, and the elements that plague young adults now and then. In one I consider to be one of the best-written scripts in recent years, Stillman pours plenty of wit and insight on what it is to be young and successful in a large city. Another great thing about this film is its' excellent disco-era soundtrack. Covering such classics such as "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross and "Everybody Dance" by Chic, I almost felt that I was transported to the club in the film. If you loved this film, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the soundtrack. If you love Disco and/or films about life in New York City, I highly recommend this film. It is one of the best films of 1998, and after watching it I can't wait for Whit Stillman's next project.
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