now that " boogie nights " has made disco respectable again ( well , fashionable at least ) , we should n't be surprised to see more films glorifying that dubious era .
the latest art house interpretation is whit stillman 's " the last days of disco .
" stillman , who made " metropolitan " and " barcelona " using some of the same actors , uses disco 's final hours to highlight what is another conversation - heavy movie that benefits from typically astute writing from the director .
the young , upwardly - mobile professional
( do n't call them yuppies ! )
men and women of " the last days of disco
" frequent a prestigious new york city nightclub pulsating to the bass - pounding rhythms of earth wind and fire , amy grant , and andrea true connection .
here they talk and talk and talk , intellectualizing about such things as dating , success , and being liked , accepted , and admired .
if talk is cheap , " the last days of disco " must surely have been an extremely inexpensive movie to shoot .
what makes the film so entertaining is that this preppie , harvard - educated jet set actually have something to say and say it with wit , perception , and style ( including , at one point , a riotously inventive deconstruction of " the lady and the tramp " ) . na ?
ve alice
( chlo ? sevigny ) and sophisticated charlotte ( kate beckinsale ) are recent college graduates who work as assistant editors for a new york publishing house .
charlotte is confident and outspoken -- perhaps a little too outspoken ; alice is shy and introverted , " like a kindergarten teacher .
"
the two friends often doll themselves up and head out to the nameless nightspot , looking good and looking for excitement ( and that ms .
beckinsale sure looks good on a dancefloor ! ) .
here they meet , or re - meet , a variety of eligible men , many of whom they knew in college .
des ( played by stillman favorite christopher eigeman ) is one of the club 's managers whose job is on the line for sneaking his ad agency buddies in the back .
des has reached a crisis point in his life : he just found out -- last wednesday , in fact -- that he 's gay . whether it 's true or not , it makes for a convenient excuse to dump his latest girlfriend ( jennifer beals in a small but soul - baring turn ) .
charlotte observes cattily that the only gay thing about des is his mouth .
jimmy ( mackenzie astin ) is the advertising exec who , by the end of the picture , winds up heading for a new job opportunity in spain ( visions of " barcelona " ? ) .
josh ( matt keeslar ) is an assistant district attorney who dreams of being able to say , just once , " book this clown ! " and robert sean leonard plays another one of alice 's revolving suitors ;
the two have an amusing exchange about the true definition of virginity .
any film that can make robert sean leonard palatable is worthy of respect in my book . in fact , the entire ensemble is appealing in that well - spoken stillman way .
while the eschewing of " ferocious pairing " is a favored topic of conversation in the film , the protagonists tend to slip in and out of love , lust , and trouble with each other in an emotional merry - go - round
that cleverly develops its characters through the " preferred " dynamics of social group interaction .
more mature than stillman 's previous two films , " the last days of disco " is as consistently droll as it is stimulating .
it 's a movie you should definitely get on down to .
Output: P