54<\/em> was supposed to be Miramax\u2019s big summer blockbuster for 1998. It boasted a sizzling-hot cast: Ryan Phillippe, the studly young thespian fresh off his role in the slasher hit I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/em>; rising, buxom, Latina screen siren Salma Hayek; Neve Campbell, the Party of Five<\/em> star who became a screen queen when he she headlined the Scream<\/em> movies; and Mike Myers, Austin Powers himself, in his first dramatic role. With a cast like this, it\u2019s no wonder Harvey Weinstein opted for a wide release, making sure it had a place in multiplexes across America. And the subject matter was juicy: legendary New York nightclub Studio 54, the mega-exclusive spot where the famous mingled with the fortunate, and hedonism and decadence reigned supreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s obvious that Weinstein wanted his own \u201870s movie out there, especially after Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s porn epic Boogie Nights<\/em> was an indie smash the year before, making a movie star out of former rapper Mark Wahlberg (as well-endowed star Dirk Diggler) and giving Burt Reynolds (as director\/father figure Jack Horner) his first-ever Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. So, Weinstein got with writer-director Mark Christopher, who had a Me Decade-era script all ready to shoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christopher described 54<\/em> as \u201ca disco American Graffiti<\/em>,\u201d focusing on three young people \u2014 Jersey boy Shane (Phillippe), aspiring singer Anita (Hayek) and her husband Greg (Breckin Meyer) \u2014 looking to make a name for themselves in the Big Apple, circa the late \u201870s, while working at the ultra-glamorous club run by the tax-evading Steve Rubell (Myers).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet, when 54<\/em> debuted on the last Friday of August, audiences didn\u2019t exactly flock to it. On opening weekend, it landed in 4th place, behind Blade<\/em>, There\u2019s Something About Mary<\/em> and Saving Private Ryan<\/em>. Ultimately, this $13 million film ended up grossing $17 million. The reviews also weren\u2019t kind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDecadence has rarely looked so pathetic, lethargic and dispiriting\u2026\u201d \u2014 Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s a flat, clumsy piece of filmmaking.\u201d \u2014 Charles Taylor, Salon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll glitz, no glory.\u201d \u2014 Richard Corliss, Time<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed people sensed that 54<\/em> was a movie that was bruised and beaten by you-know-who before it hit the screens. Around the time of the movie\u2019s release, Entertainment Weekly published a report<\/a> that confirmed it, stating that Harvey Weinstein demanded cuts and reshoots after suburban test screenings didn\u2019t approve of the movie\u2019s amoral tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Christopher, a queer filmmaker who directed the gay-themed shorts The Dead Boys\u2019 Club<\/em> (1992) and Alkali, Iowa<\/em> (1995) before making 54<\/em>, had no problems throwing some LGBTQ subject matter into the already sexually-adventurous mix. He made Shane bisexual, getting it on with both women and men. He even kisses Greg and, immediately afterwards, has sex with Anita in a bathroom (while Rubell watches). <\/p>\n\n\n\n All that lascivious behavior apparently didn\u2019t win over middle-American moviegoers. Weinstein forced Christopher to tone things the hell down, killing the whole love-triangle angle. He also wanted to play up a budding romance between Shane and a soap-opera actress (Campbell). \u201cWe wanted to shoot a dark movie,\u201d Christopher told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2015<\/a>. \u201cIn the studio release, they pumped a bunch of light into it.\u201d The whole experience made Christopher step away from Hollywood, opting to teach film and television at Drexel University in his later years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a glittery, silver lining to this story. Christopher did make his own cut, which he transferred to VHS and sent to cast and crew. Of course, that cut found its way out into the world, playing at several LGBTQ film festivals over the years. (According to Christopher, when it played at a film fest in Italy, a riot broke out because it was oversold.) At the same time, Christopher\u2019s producer Jonathan King kept hitting up Miramax for the possibility of releasing a director\u2019s cut on iTunes, which the studio \u2014 Weinstein-free since Bob and Harvey started the Weinstein Company in 2005 \u2014finally agreed to in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth be told, even with all the reshot footage removed and 40 minutes of original footage put back in (some of it from dailies found on videocassette), Christopher\u2019s cut is a flawed first try. It still suffers from a cliched clunkiness that not even all the orgiastic fervor can cover up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But at least Christopher managed to get his uninhibited vision back into the film. For people who were actually around Studio 54 back then, seeing all that sexy sordidness brought back memories. Former Vanity Fair columnist James Wolcott wrote<\/a> the movie will \u201cgive you a great feel for the ecstasy whirl under the pleasure dome of 54\u2014Salma Hayek spinning on stage is a peak moment\u2014and it englobes a unique, un-recapturable precipice moment of degeneration and regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, the 54<\/em> director\u2019s cut is a damning example of how Harvey Weinstein tried to mostly scrub the gay away from a movie, so mainstream audiences still unnerved by the sight of dudes kissing wouldn\u2019t get turned off. There are still some gay moments in the theatrical version \u2014 mostly brought out by Myers, who actually got the most raves as the horny, pitiful Rubell. But that version also inadvertently makes the argument that engaging in anything LGBTQ-related is the ultimate sin, and whoever indulges in it pays the price. (Don\u2019t forget that, both in the movie and in real life, the late Rubell had his nocturnal paradise taken away from him by the IRS, and he also did jail time for tax evasion.) No matter how much Phillippe\u2019s lunkheaded lothario is seen as homoerotic eye candy (he spends a bulk of the movie shirtless), he\u2019s still straight as an arrow. Even when he has to get medication for a hella case of the clap, at least he got it from the ladies, gotdammit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we\u2019ll never know if \u201890s audiences would have welcomed Christopher\u2019s more bi-curious cut of 54<\/em> with open arms, we do know they immediately dismissed the heavily-Weinsteined version. Even Joe and Jane Moviegoer were not gonna waste their hard-earned money on a movie that was obviously shredded to bits by Good Ol\u2019 Harvey Scissorhands. Both versions of <\/em>54 are available to rent or buy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/54-b-scaled-1024x685.jpg\")
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