the people who populate the movie 54 are shallow , self-absorbed and self-indulgent . in other words , they perfectly mirror the era as well as the movie this feature depicts . 54 is the story of that well-publicized new york disco , studio 54 , the in-place in the '70s where anybody who was anybody went to be ogled , photographed and pampered . the difficulty with 54 , which was written and directed by mark christopher , is that his script takes no point of view . christopher neither condemns nor glorifies the legendary excesses that were studio 54's hallmark . he keeps an uninvolved distance , thus keeping us from forming any emotional attachment with any of the protagonists . the movie's one main asset is the surprising performance by mike myers as steve rubell , the famous owner of the nightspot . he is part rebel , part dreamer , part shrewd entrepreneur . he's smart enough and childlike enough to pander to the dreams and desires of his clientele , yet stupid enough to brag on tv about hiding profits from the irs . myers , in his first straight character part , is in turn appealing and appalling . at one moment he can try to pressure a male employee into a sexual situation , then at the next moment apologize for his bad behavior and offer the young man a handful of cash . the story is told by shane o'shea ( ryan phillippe ) , a new jersey lad who dreams of crossing the river to the big apple . shades of john travolta's brooklyn-bound tony in saturday night fever . eventually , shane does come to new york , attracts rubell's eye and is admitted to the promised land . his looks get him a job as a busboy , and he is later promoted to the prestigious position of bartender , where he mixes with and makes drinks for the rich and famous . shane's dream is to meet soap star julie black ( neve campbell ) , a fellow garden stater . but both characters are so sketchily drawn that even when they do hook up , it's no big deal . the chemistry between shane and julie is nonexistent . 54 is a very cold , uninvolving movie . it's all strobe lights and glitz , all substance . it's sort of like the musical era it covers .
