So the answer to your question, yes, Myers can act. Problem is, the movie isn't so much about Studio as it is about the lower denizens of the club. The whole fun of Studio was getting through the doors and dancing next to Bianca Jagger or Lauren Hutton or staring down Andy Warhol (you'd think you did. Andy just got bored and moved on). The whole point of Rubell's party was that once you were inside, you were no longer a punk from nowhereland. You were in the "in" crowd. You were free to do anything to have a blast. 54 may show sex and drugs, but it doesn't for an instant deliver any approximation of the fun.

In the supporting cast, Sela Ward passes through as a music biz type who brings her bartender boy toy up to Park Avenue to hang with eurotrash and introduces the would be singer to the right people, in exchange for drugs. Cameos by Lauren Hutton and Michael York are probably meant to add glamour, but I'd venture to guess that no one in the 90s remembers these folk.

54's emphasis on an outside looking in story defeats the implication of the title and the promises of the movie's advertising. Written and directed by obvious first timer Mark Christopher, it is unfocussed of story and uninteresting, almost all close ups, on screen. There's no sense of the overwhelming party; the music isn't loud enough -- heck, the music isn't even the killer dance material you would have heard in the joint. The producers haven't cleared a single Donna Summer tune, but they have gone all out with a disco rendition of an old Gordon Lightfoot song.

Oy.

If the story is supposed to be about a kid who rises to celebrity, as it were, and his observations of the Studio lifestyle, it just isn't interesting enough to hold your attention. If it's supposed to be about Rubell and his rise and fall, there's too much Jersey in it. The movie is vaguely entertaining, but doesn't come close to getting across the scene that was in the Studio.

The fact of the matter is that the advance buzz on 54 was so negative, I was prepared for a lot worse. It didn't suck, but Ryan Phillipe's character has about as much pizzazz as a processed American cheese slice. The rest of the cast have very little to work with. If Myers weren't able to inject some humor into the proceedings (remember, Cranky's a New Yorker and he got all the jokes. Your results may differ) the flick would be a total bore. As is, it's a definite wait for video.

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to 54, he would have paid . . .

$2.00

Rent it to see Mike Myers who, try as he may, just can't make an uninteresting story interesting.