Ryan Phillippe credited as playing...
Shane O'Shea
- Steve Rubell: Is he gorgeous?
- Viv: He's gorgeous. Look for yourself.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] I was warned that Steven didn't hire any dummies and I should be on my toes because he could ask some really tricky questions.
- Steve Rubell: What's two plus two?
- Shane O'Shea: Huh?
- Steve Rubell: You'll be fine.
- Billie Auster: [in her penthouse bedroom with Shane, standing behind him and running her hands down his bare chest as he looks at himself in her mirror] You have the body of David and the face of a Botticelli.
- Shane O'Shea: [confused] Bottle of what?
- Billie Auster: Just say thanks, darling.
- [she moves in front of Shane and adjusts his pants]
- Shane O'Shea: Thanks.
- [sighs]
- Shane O'Shea: It's really funky, but I don't know if it's me.
- Billie Auster: Darling, I don't think you realize what is you.
- Shane O'Shea: I just want to look cool when I'm out, like I'm a New Yorker.
- Billie Auster: What you are is part of Billie's Big Bang Theory.
- [Shane teasingly kisses her and grabs her behind; she laughs and pulls away from him]
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] Billie taught me how the world worked, that I had the power to get whatever it was I wanted.
- Shane O'Shea: [Director's cut scene; Shane and Billie are having sex in her penthouse bedroom] Rhett? When did he quit?
- Billie Auster: [on top of Shane reverse cowgirl] Tonight. Oh, I'm crushed. He was incredible.
- [Shane increases his movement and Billie rolls her eyes]
- Billie Auster: Whoa! Cowboy, easy. Easy! Here, try this.
- [she adjusts her position a bit, causing Shane to drop his head back and moan deeply]
- Billie Auster: [moans] Ooh, you learn fast.
- Shane O'Shea: [panting] I bet I could do that job.
- Billie Auster: [seductively] Mm. Should I talk to Stevie for you?
- Shane O'Shea: [panting] I don't know. My friend's been waiting for that job.
- Billie Auster: Do you want it?
- Shane O'Shea: [panting] Yeah, I want it.
- Billie Auster: [smiles naughtily] What would you do to get it?
- [Shane flips Billie onto her back and gets on top of her, but she passes out from the cocaine and marijuana she did earlier at 54]
- Shane O'Shea: [whispers] Hey... hey.
- [he touches Billie's face to wake her up, but she's still unconscious. He sees his reflection in a nearby mirror and watches himself as he continues to have sex with her]
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover, epilogue] So that's how my decade ended. In the year and a half that Steve was in jail, things changed a lot. Big corporations had taken over the New York club world, doing what corporations do: making everything safe and boring. The freedom was gone. I kept in touch with Julie. She was doing all right. She moved to Hollywood and got a small part in a good film. I hadn't seen Greg and Anita in a while. Brought back too many memories. But they were still together, doing fine. Anita recorded a great album with Casablanca, but some people thought it was too disco. I'd been taking business classes at NYU during the day and managing a restaurant in the Village at night. As far as my dad went, things were better there, too. I got to Jersey to see him and my sisters about once a week. When I heard about Stevie's welcome back party, I couldn't resist.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover; Steve's welcome back party] You see, Steve Rubell had a dream. But like with all dreams, you wake up to reality. Even though Steve was just a consultant now, the new owners gave him this night, this one night, to bring all his friends back - to do it his way. We pretended nothing had changed. But in reality, the party was over.
- Shane O'Shea: [opening narration from the director's cut] I'm not gonna bullshit you. It was the greatest party in the history of the world. My boss used to say, "the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Maybe it did. One thing's for sure, it was the ultimate escape from a fucked-up city in a fucked-up time. But like any great escape, it never lasts. One moment it's all around you, and the next, it's gone forever.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] A guy named Steve Rubell had a dream: To throw the best damned party the world had ever seen and to make it last forever. He built a world where fantasy was put up as reality and where an 80-year-old disco queen could dance till dawn. Where models mingled with mechanics, plumbers danced with princes. It was a place where all labels were left behind. A place where there were no rules.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] Even outside the club, I was always workin' it. Getting an article placed in Interview, mingling with the right people, raising my profile. It was all coming together. I could almost taste it.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] So I made it. Bartending was the best job in the world. But for me, the big thing was when you were a bartender at 54, everybody knew your name. You were famous. Steve didn't draw a line between customers and employees. Before 54, most clubs would hide their help. Not Steve - he flaunted his. People made such a big deal about getting into 54, but they didn't know. Because once you got into the door, you wanted to get into the DJ's booth, or the office where the best coke was, or the balcony where the people were getting laid, or the basement where the biggest names hung out. Steve was so fucking smart. I mean, you'd have to be some kind of a genius to take a dirty, wet basement and turn it into a VIP room celebrities would kill to get into. There was always another door.
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover; he and Anita are at Liz Vangelder's dinner party on Park Avenue] So here I was putting my Jersey moves on Park Avenue. I really believed I'd come out of there that night with some good connections.
- Dinner Guest: [to Shane] You have the essence of Errol Flynn. Hmm?
- Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] Instead, I saw how far I had to go.
- Shane O'Shea: [looks around slightly confused] Who?
- Billie Auster: Darling, you know who Errol Flynn is.
- Shane O'Shea: Oh, yeah. Arrow Flint, right.
- Dinner Guest: [laughs at Shane] You know, you are the most gorgeous troglodyte I have ever seen.
- Shane O'Shea: [not realizing he's being insulted] Thanks.
- [he sips his wine as the dinner guest laughs at him again and Anita, Billie, Liz, and the visiting ambassador look on uncomfortably]
- Greg Randazzo: [he and Shane are cleaning up after closing on Christmas Eve] Man, look at this pit.
- [drops his bus tub on the floor and sits down at the bar]
- Shane O'Shea: [standing behind the bar] Nicotine break.
- [gives Greg a cigarette and lights it]
- Shane O'Shea: I thought this night would never end.
- Greg Randazzo: Thank God it's Christmas. I can't wait to get out of here. You goin' home tomorrow?
- Shane O'Shea: I don't think so. I haven't talked to my dad in like four months.
- Greg Randazzo: You know, why don't you come with me and Anita to her mother's? Be fun.
- Shane O'Shea: Thanks.
- Greg Randazzo: Yeah. Let's clean this place up. Let's get outta this hole.
- Shane O'Shea: Hey, you hear Romeo's quittin' New Year's Eve?
- Greg Randazzo: If you think I'm ever gonna get that job, you're dreamin'. He's never gonna promote me.
- Shane O'Shea: He might. Listen, I'll talk to him.
- Greg Randazzo: [smiles slightly] All right.
- Shane O'Shea: Anyway, when we have our own place, we'll do all the hiring, all right?
- Greg Randazzo: All right.
- Shane O'Shea: [walks out from behind the bar] All right, I'll meet you downstairs when you finish with this stuff.
- Greg Randazzo: Say what?
- Shane O'Shea: Steve doesn't want me to do any more of the bussing or anything.
- Greg Randazzo: Are you for real?
- Shane O'Shea: What?
- Greg Randazzo: You're gettin' so conceited. It's like I don't even know who I'm talkin' to anymore.
- Shane O'Shea: What's your problem, man?
- Greg Randazzo: You pour drinks or you hang out with some high-class, stuck-up assholes and suddenly you're some big star, you can't get your hands dirty?
- Shane O'Shea: Oh, look at you. Dealin' more drugs than Johnson and Johnson.
- Greg Randazzo: Hey, that money's for Anita's studio; you know that.
- Shane O'Shea: Oh, I see.
- Greg Randazzo: You know what, Shane? Your head's fillin' up with so much shit you don't even know what you're talkin' about.
- Shane O'Shea: Hey, Greg, cool it, man. I'm your friend, all right?
- Greg Randazzo: Yeah, a friend who's trying to scope my wife.
- Shane O'Shea: What the hell are you talkin' about?
- Greg Randazzo: Hey, she's the only girl this side of Fifth Avenue you haven't balled.
- Shane O'Shea: You don't know what you're talkin' about.
- Greg Randazzo: Fuck you. Shane 54.
- [leaves]
- Anita: [Director's cut scene. Anita goes to 54's ladies' room after fighting with Greg on Christmas Eve; Shane walks in behind her while she's at the sink] You know, I told him before we got married, I told him what the deal was. I said, "I love you, but I need my freedom. I need to have fun, you know? Maybe not forever, but for now." And he said, "Okay, okay okay; whatever, you know, whatever you need. I want you to be free." My ass! I could kill him when he fucking gets like this, just kill him!
- [she turns back to Shane]
- Anita: What's wrong?
- [Shane doesn't answer. Anita walks over to him, puts her hands on his shoulders, and looks at him for a moment. Then he kisses her passionately and they go into a nearby stall to have sex]
- Anita: [notices Steve behind the stall door watching her and Shane have sex] Shane. Shane, stop. Shane.
- Shane O'Shea: [panting] Let him watch. It's his bathroom.
- [Anita then hits him in the groin and runs out of the bathroom past Steve. Shane groans, retches a bit, and looks up to see Steve standing there looking at him. He slams the stall door shut, then leans back against the stall wall, bangs his head against it, and punches the stall door, immediately feeling guilty about what he's just done]
- Romeo: [to Shane, at a diner after work with the 54 crew] Hey, how'd you do tonight?
- Shane O'Shea: [has just worked his first night as a 54 busboy] Good. I made quite a bit, I think.
- Greg Randazzo: He doesn't mean the tips.
- Anita: You went up to the balcony with Patti, hmm?
- Shane O'Shea: Word gets around fast, I guess.
- Ciel: So did she do the accent?
- Anita: [nudges Ciel] Um, so how was she?
- Shane O'Shea: Really great, you know. She's a model.
- Atlanta: Really? Have we seen her in anything?
- Shane O'Shea: Yeah, Vogue. French Vogue.
- [everyone else at the table laughs]
- Busboy #1: Yeah, she told me Cosmo.
- Anita: She told me Women's Wear Daily.
- Shane O'Shea: Hey, listen, I don't care if it was Sears and Roebuck; it was hot.
- Greg Randazzo: [Director's cut scene. Greg and Shane are in the VIP basement on Christmas Eve, sharing a cigarette and talking] This is great down here, huh? Usually, I hate Christmas.
- Shane O'Shea: Me too.
- Greg Randazzo: Watching everybody's family celebrate. All I had was my aunt. She'd give me a pair of socks and call it a night.
- Shane O'Shea: Yeah, my family would be glued to "It's A Wonderful Life" or something phony like that.
- Greg Randazzo: I always thought Christmas should be banned.
- Shane O'Shea: Same here. We're in sync, man.
- Greg Randazzo: Right on.
- [they high five each other and link fingers]
- Greg Randazzo: The only other person I felt in sync with my entire life was Anita.
- Shane O'Shea: You're lucky. So is she.
- Greg Randazzo: What?
- Shane O'Shea: You got her, she's got you.
- Greg Randazzo: And you got us. Most of all, you got you. I mean, you're somebody. You're Shane 54.
- [Shane starts to cry and Greg puts his arm around him]
- Greg Randazzo: Don't cry, man. You're the lucky one. Don't you get it? I would give anything to be in your shoes.
- [He and Shane look at each other for a moment, then Shane leans in and kisses Greg until Greg backs off and walks away, stunned at what he's just done]
- Billie Auster: [Director's cut scene. Billie and Shane are in her penthouse bedroom as she dresses him in a brown leather fringe jacket and matching pants] I expect you to get to the center of it all, Shane. Right where you belong.
- Shane O'Shea: Okay.
- Billie Auster: [turns Shane around to face her] No, it's not "okay", Shane. If you want something from somebody, you're gonna have to take it. But first, find out what they want and then let them have it.
- Shane O'Shea: [gets a copy of the Interview Magazine issue he posed for in the mail. He sees his Christmas centerfold picture, but not the interview portion he did with it] Where's the article?
- [he turns back a page, then back to his picture, but he still doesn't see the interview article, leaving him feeling exploited and used]
- Anita: [knocks on Shane's door and enters his room holding the magazine] See? If you had let me be involved in the photo shoot, this wouldn't have happened. You should've known with a magazine like this.
- Shane O'Shea: [lying on his bed, still feeling sad] Anita, lay off, please.
- Shane O'Shea: [Director's cut scene; Shane and Billie's gay associate Julian are alone in the VIP basement] All right, tell me if you know who this is.
- Shane O'Shea: [impersonates John Travolta] "What? When? Where? It's like, so weird down here. I mean -" Do you know who that is?
- Julian: [seductively] A very charming boy.
- Shane O'Shea: Thanks.
- [Julian leans in and kisses Shane on the lips; Shane pulls back hesitantly]
- Julian: [whispers seductively] Relax, kid.
- [he kisses Shane again and Shane gives in to it]
- Julie Black: [pulls up beside Shane in a limo after he's been thrown out of 54] Shane! You want a ride?
- [she gets out of the limo]
- Julie Black: Look, Shane, I'm sorry. I know I acted like a fool, but you know how it gets in there.
- Shane O'Shea: [cloaked in an old plastic garbage bag] Where's Roland?
- Julie Black: I lost him in the balcony. I'm sorry. Come on.
- Shane O'Shea: What about your career? I thought that was your big priority.
- Julie Black: Yeah, well, I'm not so sure anymore.
- Shane O'Shea: [looks over at 54, then back at Julie] Me neither. So now what?
- Julie Black: I like you, Shane. Let's face it, we're Jersey.
- Shane O'Shea: Yeah, we are.
- Julie Black: [smiles] So... friends?
- [she holds out her hand]
- Shane O'Shea: [hesitates, then shakes Julie's hand] Friends.
- [they smile]
- Julie Black: [at a bowling alley with Shane; she bowls a strike] Yes!
- Shane O'Shea: [applauding] Wow! You're good.
- Julie Black: Four brothers and I never lost a game.
- Shane O'Shea: Oh, really?
- Julie Black: Mm-hmm.
- Shane O'Shea: [picks up his ball] I've been meaning to tell you something.
- Julie Black: [writing her score on the scorepad] Mm-hmm?
- Shane O'Shea: It's kinda embarrassing.
- Julie Black: You can tell me. What are you talking about?
- Shane O'Shea: [bowls but misses three pins] When I first saw that picture of you in the gossip column, it was... you know, inspiring.
- Julie Black: What?
- Shane O'Shea: I mean it. Just to see somebody else from Jersey who made it.
- Julie Black: [laughs] Made it? You're kidding, right? I'm on a soap.
- Shane O'Shea: Right.
- Julie Black: Wrong! Soap work is the pits. Why do you think I'm at 54 every night?
- Shane O'Shea: [bowls his spare] I don't know. Maybe to meet somebody interesting.
- Julie Black: Exactly.
- [picks up her ball and prepares to bowl]
- Julie Black: In this business, it's all about who you know, and since I'm gonna get a movie - or die trying - there's no place better than 54.
- [bowls a strike]
- Julie Black: One big bender with business cards. See, the thing is, if you meet the right producer - like Roland Sachs, for instance - you've got it made. I mean, he's got his hands in everything: music, movies, clubs, everything.
- Shane O'Shea: Right. But you don't need that.
- [picks up his ball]
- Julie Black: Shane, come on. You're a 54 bartender. You know how things work. I mean, you know what this is all about. I mean, you've had to maneuver. Sometimes use your charm, sometimes other things. Hmm?
- Shane O'Shea: Okay, you got me.
- [bowls and gets all but one pin, then walks up to Julie smiling]
- Shane O'Shea: This place is really great. You can actually see people here.
- Julie Black: [laughs and playfully taps his nose] You're cute.
- Shane O'Shea: [kisses her, then smiles] Starting the decade with the perfect kiss.
- Julie Black: [smiles back] What could be better than that?
- Shane O'Shea: Picking up that 7-10 split.
- Julie Black: [grabs her ball and runs to bowl] Oh, yeah? I'm gonna do it first!
- Shane O'Shea: [chasing after her] No, you're not, it's mine!
- [he playfully wrestles her for the ball, causing it to drop in the middle of the lane and roll into the gutter]
- Disco Dottie: [at the pharmacy where Shane is buying penicillin for his gonorrhea] Penicillin, huh? We must be neighbors. I live just - don't worry, your secret is safe with me...
- Disco Dottie: [reads Shane's pill bottle] Shane O'Shea.
- Shane O'Shea: Thanks.
- [he opens his wallet to pay the pharmacist and discovers that it's empty]
- Shane O'Shea: [groans] Shit.
- [Disco Dottie notices and discreetly places some money in his hand]
- Shane O'Shea: Thanks, Dottie.
- Disco Dottie: It's Mona, but that's just between you and me too, okay?
- Shane O'Shea: [laughs] Okay.