The movie tries hard to make the story of the club's rise and fall emblematic of an era, but in the end, it's about a couple of old friends from the neighborhood who got lucky, got greedy, and got caught.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 16, 2018

The documentary is good on the gay aspect of 54, and disco generally.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 25, 2018

In 98 minutes, Studio 54 captures the club on its best nights and on its worst mornings.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 19, 2018

There's little revealed here that isn't already part of the public record (or gossip columns), though the film does go into the details of the club's precipitous rise and fall.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 18, 2018

[A] lively, contextual but much-too-laudatory documentary...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 12, 2018

The film greatly benefits from having the more introverted Schrager still around to provide firsthand insight, with the luxury of 40 years of reflective perspective, into the inner workings of his and Rubell's legendary creation.

| Oct 11, 2018

Tyrnauer documents it all with journalistic rigour, building his film around the bittersweet memories of the reclusive Schrager... and those of former Studio 54 employees, publicists and patrons.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 11, 2018

Tyrnauer tries to find the heart of whatever Studio 54 was all about, but never actually gets there - instead, we're left to goggle at the footage and still photos of near-naked dancers and gossip-column habitues.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 11, 2018

Juicy fodder for the "in" crowd that lived through it, as well as the outsiders who heard about it but couldn't get in.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 8, 2018

It feels a bit too tame.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 5, 2018

The feeling persists that we are very far from hearing what really happened there.

| Oct 4, 2018

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.

| Oct 4, 2018

Studio 54 is resonant because it offers such a reasonable and poignant answer.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 3, 2018

The stills of dancefloor abandon practically ooze with sweat, poppers, and cocaine. They capture the moment.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 2, 2018

The documentary nurtures our sympathy for Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager without shortchanging their hypocrisies.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 2, 2018

Schrager proves agreeable company and, though occasionally evasive, seems frank about his transgressions.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 27, 2018

It's frustratingly broad on its place in club culture.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 17, 2018

Studio 54 is an opulent and balanced tribute to '70s pop culture.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 15, 2018

A fascinating documentary that captures all the glamour and grubbiness of the 20th century's most famous nightclub. All the thrill of being there with none of the hangover.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 15, 2018

Paradise was lost but, boy, did it look fun while it lasted.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 15, 2018