Ian Schrager was the co-owner of the famous Studio 54, which was more or less the first mainstream gay nightclub (which was the best going for it) where many straight celebrities also frequented...
But all those famous actors and musicians and authors had their own private hideaways and rarely mingled with the customers beautiful enough to be let inside the door, mainly by the more outspoken (and openly gay) owner Steve Rubell, who died many decades ago so we're left with Schrager (and his bizarre speech impediment) as he's editing a Studio 54 book within his very own Studio 54 documentary...
Which is the problem because with all the lawbreaking and drug-taking and not paying taxes and inevitable jail-time, you get more excuses from Schrager than interesting facts: he even blames Ronald Reagan at one point (predictable for Netflix)...
A more honest and open expose would be much better for a place that was supposedly all about being open and real... this kind of "talking head interview" self-promotion goes against what Studio 54 was supposed to be all about... it's as if the surviving former employees were in-check to only talk about the things we already know about: disco, celebrities, drugs...
But those aspects, again, are more defended than defined in a doc as standard as the mediocre 54 film from the 1990's starring Mike Myers as Rubell, as Schrager (who actually resembles Ted Bundy) was not mentioned at all...
And it's no wonder he was the silent partner as he's not very interesting, unlike Rubell (Schrager also seems to be the most criminally-minded partner of the pair)...
And ironically, whenever Schrager runs out of things to say, archive Rubell interviews take the place... making, in this case, the dead far more entertaining than the living since, after all, Steve WAS the spokesman.
But all those famous actors and musicians and authors had their own private hideaways and rarely mingled with the customers beautiful enough to be let inside the door, mainly by the more outspoken (and openly gay) owner Steve Rubell, who died many decades ago so we're left with Schrager (and his bizarre speech impediment) as he's editing a Studio 54 book within his very own Studio 54 documentary...
Which is the problem because with all the lawbreaking and drug-taking and not paying taxes and inevitable jail-time, you get more excuses from Schrager than interesting facts: he even blames Ronald Reagan at one point (predictable for Netflix)...
A more honest and open expose would be much better for a place that was supposedly all about being open and real... this kind of "talking head interview" self-promotion goes against what Studio 54 was supposed to be all about... it's as if the surviving former employees were in-check to only talk about the things we already know about: disco, celebrities, drugs...
But those aspects, again, are more defended than defined in a doc as standard as the mediocre 54 film from the 1990's starring Mike Myers as Rubell, as Schrager (who actually resembles Ted Bundy) was not mentioned at all...
And it's no wonder he was the silent partner as he's not very interesting, unlike Rubell (Schrager also seems to be the most criminally-minded partner of the pair)...
And ironically, whenever Schrager runs out of things to say, archive Rubell interviews take the place... making, in this case, the dead far more entertaining than the living since, after all, Steve WAS the spokesman.