Critics reviews

Depending on who’s doing the mythologizing, it’s either a cautionary tale of excess and criminality, or a dream vision of a fleeting moment when you could be anybody (and do anything) you wanted. Matt Tyrnauer’s swift, entertaining documentary largely belongs to the latter camp.

The movie is a fast account that is sometimes a tad facile in its analysis of a cultural moment. But as Mr. Schrager’s personal too-much-too-soon story, it’s compelling.

A case of a documentary attempting to tell a story that obviously cannot be fully or satisfyingly told at this juncture. As such, it has value only insofar as it suggests how much that era cannot quite be re-captured.

As foolish and gluttonous as Rubell and Schrager were, Tyrnauer nurtures our sympathy for them without shortchanging their hypocrisies.

Though not especially great filmmaking, STUDIO 54 is nevertheless a compelling investigation into the history of the legendary midtown discotheque.