In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

studio 54 attracted so many weird and bizarre people to its gates that it 's a wonder why the film about the life and death of the studio centers itself on one very boring , cliched individual , not to mention an ensemble of people who would n't be at all fascinating unless they worked at the studio , which they did according to this film .
are we supposed to believe that out of all the strange folk who populated the studio nightly , that a character who is a bland ripoff of tony manero would really make a good protagonist for the film about it ?
" 54 " belongs in the elite group of films known as " the big disappointments " : the films that attain so much hype and/or so much potential in its creation that they come off worse than they are when they are finally finished .
i was heavily awaiting " 54 , " not the least because i 've become fascinated with the infamous club , which has been the subject of an engrossing documentary that 's been running all summer on vh1 , which is , weirdly enough , much more intriguing and engrossing than this " edgy " film .
perhaps more importantly , " 54 " is part of the blossoming subgenre , " the 70s nostalgia film , " which has been picking up mighty steam , what with " boogie nights " and " the last days of disco " coming out within the year , and both being such damn good movies that not only captured the feel of a certain time period ( the late 70s party and the early 80s wakeup period ) , but brought us interesting and real characters , like scotty , the tragically gay boom mike operator from " boogie nights , " and charlotte , the ironically clueless and bitchy co - protagonist from " the last days of disco , " not to mention several others .
"
54 " deals not so much with the timeline of the studio ( how it began , how it was run , how it ended ) - that 's all dealt with in the narrated opening and finale - but more interested in the characters who populated it .
this is a definite plus .
here 's a film that could have been a fascinating 2 hour plus film about the tragic people who went there to party , and had to wakeup in the 80s when things like diseases , economy problems , and perhaps worst of all , reagan , all hit and forced everyone into a rude awakening .
the story of the studio is tragedy in itself : let 's look at how it all affected the people .
but this film does n't let that happen .
it gives us a half - assed protagonist named shane o'shea ( ryan phillippe , from " i know what you did last summer " ) , who 's
chief character trait is the fact that he 's from new jersey , which also happens to be his chief character flaw ( i guess ) .
he 's dim - witted , into being part of " the scene , " and soon finds he 's become a bit of a rave amongst the studio regulars .
. .
a bit like " saturday night fever , " ' cept no travolta and no real interest put into him .
poor , poor phillippe struggles to make him interesting , but
all he is a half - assed character and not at all our ticket to the glimpse of the decadence going on inside the club that he could have been .
shane begins to hang out with some other denizens of the club , like anita ( salma hayek ) , a wannabe donna sommers , and her young hubby , greg randanzo ( breckin meyer , from " clueless " ) , who helps shane become a bartender and rise to a bit of fame .
although he begins to get somewhere when he sleeps with the foxy billie auster ( sela ward ) , an exec of sorts , he falls in lust with a soap star named julie black ( neve campbell ) , and thus the boring romance subplot that 's all too not necessarily important to anything else in the film and never really becomes interesting at any point in the film
.
the film 's sole point of interest and one major strongpoint is the all - too necesary personage of steve rubell , played by mike myers ( you heard me ) .
rubell , the famous head of the studio acted as if he never stopped partying ever , and is an easy metaphor for the life and times of his creation , but the film , thanks to a surprisingly strong performance by myers , makes him out to be more than that .
notice the scenes sole shocking scene , where he tries to get felatio from one of his male employees in turn for a promotion : myers brings the humanity to rubell in this scene , and a couple others , that some of us who 've only seen him on tv never saw , and proves to be perhaps the one aspect of studio 54 that this film actually nails .
first time feature director mark christopher proves that he 's a better director than a writer , though not too terribly much .
his story is trite and shallow , as are his characters , and his direction is shockingly flat , especially for a film about this subject .
it 's as if he had a great story to tell , but instead opted for the easier route .
the studio 's recreation is amazingly accurate , though , and very impressive , but his direction is never captivating enough .
some people say that a film does its job if it makes you want to visit the locale it takes place in ( despite the film 's tone , i still want to go to rome and its many nightclubs after i saw fellini 's " la dolce vita " ) , and when i watched " 54 , " i did n't particularly want to stay .
N

the coen brothers are back again , this time with homer 's " odyssey " as the backdrop in their tale of three fugitives from a mississippi chain gang who trek across the south to find a secret treasure in " o brother , where art thou ?
" right for the beginning of " o brother " the coens grab your attention with a chain gang of prison inmates breaking rocks along the road in unison to a work song .
the camera flows around the hard toiling men , giving a visually exciting symmetry to the scene that ends with our three heroes - ulysses everett mcgill ( george clooney ) , delmar ( tim blake nelson ) and pete ( john turturro ) - escaping across a cotton field .
it is the beginning of a journey that takes on different meanings and urgencies to each member of the trio .
a strong suite , as always with the coen brothers , is the depth of character of the folks they create in their films .
their characters are goofy and comical , like nicolas cage in " raising arizona " ; or , dramatic , as albert finney and john turturro in " miller 's crossing " ; and , even a mix of the two with frances mcdormand in " fargo .
" in all cases , and in " o brother , " too , the characters populating their films are three - dimensional people .
ulysses everett is a handsome , hair - obsessed petty criminal with a silver tongue and not a lot in the brains department .
but , he seems like a genius when compared to the simple , sweet delmar and the maladjusted pete , who follow their self appointed leader to a promised treasure of $ 1 . 2 million .
their odyssey takes on the mystical proportions of homer 's original material as they meet all manner of people along the way , including those dangerous sirens who beckon them onto symbolically rocky shoals and a cyclops who beats them and takes all their money .
there is magic , too , when delmar believes that pete was turned into a horny toad by the sirens .
the story meanders through the different vignettes of the boys ' adventures , giving the flick a choppy , episodic feel that disrupts the overall flow .
some of the interludes are an epiphany , though .
the trio becomes a quartet when they pick up guitar - playing tommy johnson ( chris thomas king ) and visit a radio station in the middle of nowhere , run by its blind owner ( stephen root ) .
they become the soggy bottom boys for the sightless radio station man and , without their knowledge , are recorded as they sing the traditional tune , " i am a man of constant sorrow .
"
it is a wonderful moment of moviemaking and gives us , in my mind , the best movie song of the year
.
contrasting this and other wonderful moments
( the sexy seduction by the sirens comes to mind ) are some pretentious bits that detract from the overall quality of " o brother .
" in particular , near the end , is a scene where ulysses , delmar and pete crash a ku klux klan rally to save tommy from being lynched .
the scene is overblown and flashy and reeks of " the wizard of oz .
"
they do n't say " lions and tigers and bears , oh my !
" and there 's no dorothy , but it is the land of oz we 're seeing here .
the highs and lows of the story flow are tempered by fine acting on several levels .
george clooney is funny , charming , a little dumb and one of the handsomest actors in the business today .
he has the charm of a 30 's movie idol and is able to put himself into silly situations with dignity .
ulysses has an ongoing obsession with his hair , risking life and limb to get a particular brand of pomade and a supply of hairnets .
his vanity will come to plague him as it would any mystical hero - wanderer .
while clooney is the name draw for " o brother , " the show stealer is tim blake nelson as delmar .
the heretofore unknown nelson is terrific as the simple convict who , at one point , hears the word of the lord and joins members of a church congregation in their mass baptism .
delmar is saved and dedicates his life to doing good and provides a richness to his simple character that makes him shine .
the taciturn pete , as played by longtime coen collaborator turturro , is the sullen member of the trio and gives them the necessary angst .
all together , the tuneful triumvirate is a mix of the three stooges and the three musketeers as they prove to be buffoons , albeit brave ones .
the colorful supporting cast is rampant with homerian characters to meet and get to know along the way of the boys ' odyssey .
charles durning appears as incumbent governor pappy o'daniel , who keeps crossing paths with them in his bid for re - election .
john goodman is wicked as the one - eyed bible salesman and con artist , big dan teague .
michael badalucco is manic and outrageous as outlaw and bank robber extraordinary
, george " babyface " nelson .
stephen root is amusing as the blind dj , rep'ing one of the many references to the sightless that abound in the film in mystical ways .
holly hunter is wasted in the small role as ulysses ' estranged wife , penny ( and the real reason for this adventure , not secret treasure ) .
techs are , as expected in a coen brothers venture ,
first class .
cinematographer roger deakins , who has worked on five previous coen films , captures the sultry atmosphere of the south .
the photography complements the lush period production and costume provided by dennis gassner and mary zophres , respectively .
once again , roderick jaynes - the alter ego of ethan and joel coen - is on board as editor .
the high points outweigh the low through most of " o brother , where art thou ?
" with particular praise for the wonderful selection of period and traditional music .
i give it a b .
P

every once in a while , a film sneaks up on me and takes me completely by surprise .
i do n't necessarily mean in terms of quality ; rather , i 'm referring to the mere knowledge of its existence .
usually i know what films are on the way a year in advance , but two weeks ago i had never heard of princess caraboo .
it has slipped rather quietly into limited release , and appears destined to slip out just as quietly .
that 's a shame , because princess caraboo is a delightful fable , romantic , gentle and very appealing .
what 's more , it 's surprisingly insightful and provides a sharp - witted lesson in english social history .
princess caraboo is based on an actual event in early 19th century england , involving a young woman ( phoebe cates ) who is found wandering the countryside .
apparently unable to speak any english , she is taken in by good - hearted gentlewoman mrs .
worrall ( wendy hughes ) .
her banker husband ( jim broadbent ) is none - too - pleased about this strange houseguest , until the worralls begin to believe that the woman may be royalty from an east indian island , the princess caraboo .
this development inspires plans for a lucrative trading venture for mr .
worrall , and an introduction into elite social circles for mrs .
worrall .
however , local journalist john gutch ( stephen rea ) is not convinced that the woman is what she seems to be , and sets out to find out the truth about princess caraboo .
as a social satire and comedy of manners , princess caraboo is a winner .
it takes place in an era when it was common practice in england to jail vagrants and hang beggars , and that practice comes in for an obvious hazing .
but it is handled most effectively through the character of mr .
worrall , a drunken womanizer whose bank is in deep trouble thanks to his corruption and ineptitude .
he is worse than one of the idle rich ; he is one of the actively odious gentry so eager to distance themselves from the lower class they think nothing of simply eliminating them , and since the house and money are all from mrs .
worrall , he is a bit too close to them for comfort . while hypocrisy is an easy target for ridicule , director and co - writer michael austin keeps the treatment too light - hearted to be heavy - handed .
he also takes a unique stab at the trendiness of the upper classes , as the princess becomes a " sensation " at court .
in one of the film 's best sequences , princess caraboo is the guest of honor at a party hosted by the prince regent ( a wonderfully foppish turn by comic john sessions ) , and the lords and ladies end up following her around in a thoroughly silly native dance .
it is then that princess caraboo shows how easily people are swept up in " sensations , " an idea that takes on a timeless quality ( and makes the film an interesting companion piece to the current quiz show ) .
social commentary aside , princess caraboo is simply an eminently enjoyable entertainment .
the performers are mostly delightful
, particularly phoebe cates , who is radiant in a part that requires a gift for pantomime .
her supporting players are also appealing : wendy hughes as the patient and kindly mrs .
worrall
; kevin kline as frixos , the worralls ' suspicious and superior greek butler ; stephen rea as the world - weary but ultimately romantic gutch .
only john lithgow is a disappointment , turning in a limp performance as a scholar who attempts to verify the princess 's identity .
the story twists and turns just enough so that the question of whether or not the princess is really a princess is always in some doubt , without becoming gimmicky .
it is unfortunate that the growing attraction between gutch and princess caraboo is n't given more time to develop , because the potential seemed to be there .
when it finally does blossom , it seems too quick to be plausible .
princess caraboo is patient enough in establishing its sense of time and place that it might seem a bit slow to viewers seeking a fantasy romp .
still , it has both escapist and intellectual appeal , and is well worth seeking out .
it is the kind of film that makes my job its most rewarding -- a hidden gem .

P