Had promise, didn't really deliver

Rating: 6/10 (4 March 2001)

Must admit that I'm quite a fan of Mike Myers, but by the end of this film he was starting to annoy me. Perhaps it's because he is so good as Austin Powers that the character seems to pervade everything else he plays also - such as Steve Rubell in this case. There were moments that he sounded and acted like Powers far too frequent in 54.
Rubell, the founder and owner of trendy NY nightclub 54, finally fell foul of the authorities as we all know; but the story of what happened and how is interesting all the same.
It should have been a lot longer film, it was only starting to really go somewhere when it finished.
Salma Hayek and Ryan Phillippe gave good performances, and Neve Campbell was absolutely gorgeous as usual, and is a really under rated actress at the same time, doing a good role as the soap star looking to get big. A credible, believable and well acted role.
Could have been a lot better, didn't quite make it.