Whit Stillman is the Jane Austen of New York filmmakers. He watches the yuppie classes at play and wryly observes them. The Last Days of Disco is his third film after Metropolitan and Barcelona. It`s set in the early 80`s, just as the disco era was dying, and in it Stillman brings together a group of people for a witty talkfest, they don`t do a lot of dancing.
Chris Eigeman plays the same character he has in all of Stillman`s previous films - the incompetent pratt with a veneer of sophistication. In this he`s the assistant manager of a disco club that everyone who`s anyone wants to get into. Two of those anyones are Alice - Chloe Sevigny and Charlotte - the British actress Kate Beckinsale. They`re recent graduates from university who have lowly paid jobs in publishing. Charlotte is a bitchy know-all, perhaps unaware of her carelessness with people. Alice is the nice vulnerable one. Robert Sean Leonard plays a lawyer who believes that the film Bambi was the beginning of the environmental movement. Matt Keelar is an assistant District Attorney who`s part of a team investigating shady money dealings in the club.
But you can forget real plot, this film is about witty dialogue and social dealings... Stillman doesn`t manage to inject much veracity into the club sequences, but the soundtrack strikes a chord. What he`s good at is dialogue that punctures the pretensions of these young preppy types. But he`s not cruel with them, I think he`s very fond of them. One character says \"it`s more important that we have more group social life instead of all this ferocious pairing off\" but what they mean is \"don`t leave me alone while you pair off\".
The film is about the loneliness of group activity. It`s about the pathetic aspirations of young people who think they`re going to be part of the \"in crowd\". Standouts in the cast are the two women - Chloe Sevigny with her bad posture and shy demeanour irritates us and yet seduces us beautifully. Kate Beckinsale is delicious as Charlotte. Chris Eigeman`s like an old friend now, he knows his role and he does it well. I think Stillman as a filmmaker either irritates you or entertains you enormously. I was thoroughly entertained.
