Knock on Wood

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2003)

54 is a great movie for nostalgia pundits such as myself. It is an affectionately made journey through the looking glass to back to the late 70's and early 80's. It has a great soundtrack and enjoyable performances by Ryan Philippe, Selma Hyack and the like. Of course the man who steals the show is Mike Myers who is hillarious as Steve Rubell. The Script centres alot of the attention on Myers and Rubell, because he is quite simply the most interesting of the ensemble characters in the movie. I dont know too much about Rubell but Myers manages to make him a likeable character despite being nothing short of a bastard. Where the movie lets it's self down is that there is practically no style to the direction or even the script, so we dont see anything we havent seen before. Philippe's opening narration goes for a Goodfella's style feel, while the movie tries mercifully to drag it's self out of the shadow of Boogie Nights. Director Mark Christopher seems to be trying to hold back the feeling of excess instead of succumbing to what is natural. This is a pity because the movie could have benefited alot more from doing just that. Overall though, as it stands 54 is an enjoyable, watchable -Grade Mike Myers showcase with some great tracks {Knock on Wood for one} and some solid performances.