Boogie Nights «««
R, 155m. 1997
Cast & Credits: Mark Wahlberg (Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler), Burt Reynolds (Jack Horner), Julianne Moore (Amber Waves), Don Cheadle (Don Swope), John C. Reilly (Reed Rothchild), William H. Macy (Little Bill), Heather Graham (Rollergirl). Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
The thing that sticks in my mind most about a feature story on the adult porn industry I read in Details magazine last year was it told me more than I ever cared to know about this dangerously risky but highly profitable lifestyle.
The article went into vivid detail on how these physically fit male actors went about getting their “equipment” ready before shooting a scene involving sexual intercourse with a woman. Some of the male stars, readers were told, could perform the scenes numerous times if the directors didn’t like how it was shot. I only mention the story because that is exactly what the controversial film, Boogie Nights, is about.
So when porn actor newcomer Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) performs that final orgasm on his drug addicted co-star, Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), on film, his only response to the crew is, “I can do it again if it wasn’t good enough.”
The scene is one among several that not only chronicles the epic rise and fall of numerous characters but in particular, Dirk; a high school dropout whose christened name was Eddie Adams. Dirk discovers, early in life, that his one and perhaps only talent is how erect his male organ gets when he is sexually aroused.
What makes director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film unique is although I understood the pain the characters were going through, I had no reason to feel sorry for them and that is the movie’s only weakness.
Excessive debt, drugs, crime, sexual diseases, and loneliness lurk around every corner yet these people never seem to realize that is what’s destroying them. Even after their lives take a turn for the worse, they never get the message and return to the fast-paced, self-destructive lifestyle they once led as a way out.
The characters are a colorful, humorous albeit immoral lot like another high school dropout turned porn actress known only as Rollergirl (Heather Graham) who never takes her skates off; not even in bed. And Little Bill, the scriptwriter (William H. Macy) whose wife enjoys having sex in public as several party goers crowd around her in an alley watching with their mouths gaping wide open.
At the center of it all is the award winning, delusional pornographic film director Jack Horner, played with a haunting sadness by Burt Reynolds, who is the Ed Wood of smut.
“What I want to do is make a film that will keep audiences in the movie houses, long after they have already jacked off,” Horner tells Dirk who is like the son he wished he had.
“I want this film to be the one people will remember me by,” he later tells his cameraman who just finished shooting Dirk’s latest movie; a skin flick rendition of the James Bond films in which the actor plays secret agent Brock Landers.
Anderson, who incorporates a variety of rock music which includes songs from the Beach Boys and Night Ranger to ELO, captures the look and feel of the late 70s in style and fashion to the early 80s. The characters sport psychedelic turtleneck shirts, long slacks, high heeled disco shoes, and jam to eight track tapes.
When there are scenes involving sexual acts, Anderson shows them through a long dark camera lens that not only shows how cheap and unskilled this type of film making really is but how devoid these actors and actresses are of talent. Then again, anyone who rents X-rated movies doesn’t get them for plot and character development.
The best scenes are when Amber makes a documentary interview with Dirk asking him questions about who Brock Landers really is. What is laughable is how Dirk and Horner take their projects seriously like they were promoting themselves for the Oscars, which in their twisted world would be awards for X-rated films.
The movie is everything the 1995 film, Showgirls, wasn’t. That picture, which was supposed to have given us a glimpse into the life of Las Vegas strippers, was nothing more than a thoughtless woman hating sexploitation flick.
Boogie Nights is about people who make cheap sexploitation flicks. What is missing from the film though is none of these characters have a soul and no shred of morality or knowledge that what they are doing for a living is destroying them both mentally and physically.
Like that in-depth article in Details magazine, Anderson gives us a reporter’s documentary perspective on the seedy underworld of pornography.
Because the script portrays individuals like Dirk Diggler, Jack Horner, Amber Waves, and Rollergirl as aimless, depressing, pathetic, soulless losers, however, Boogie Nights is only a good but often depressing film. It’s not a great movie and not one I care to see again.
©11/19/97
R, 155m. 1997
Cast & Credits: Mark Wahlberg (Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler), Burt Reynolds (Jack Horner), Julianne Moore (Amber Waves), Don Cheadle (Don Swope), John C. Reilly (Reed Rothchild), William H. Macy (Little Bill), Heather Graham (Rollergirl). Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
The article went into vivid detail on how these physically fit male actors went about getting their “equipment” ready before shooting a scene involving sexual intercourse with a woman. Some of the male stars, readers were told, could perform the scenes numerous times if the directors didn’t like how it was shot. I only mention the story because that is exactly what the controversial film, Boogie Nights, is about.
So when porn actor newcomer Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) performs that final orgasm on his drug addicted co-star, Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), on film, his only response to the crew is, “I can do it again if it wasn’t good enough.”
The scene is one among several that not only chronicles the epic rise and fall of numerous characters but in particular, Dirk; a high school dropout whose christened name was Eddie Adams. Dirk discovers, early in life, that his one and perhaps only talent is how erect his male organ gets when he is sexually aroused.
What makes director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film unique is although I understood the pain the characters were going through, I had no reason to feel sorry for them and that is the movie’s only weakness.
Excessive debt, drugs, crime, sexual diseases, and loneliness lurk around every corner yet these people never seem to realize that is what’s destroying them. Even after their lives take a turn for the worse, they never get the message and return to the fast-paced, self-destructive lifestyle they once led as a way out.
The characters are a colorful, humorous albeit immoral lot like another high school dropout turned porn actress known only as Rollergirl (Heather Graham) who never takes her skates off; not even in bed. And Little Bill, the scriptwriter (William H. Macy) whose wife enjoys having sex in public as several party goers crowd around her in an alley watching with their mouths gaping wide open.
At the center of it all is the award winning, delusional pornographic film director Jack Horner, played with a haunting sadness by Burt Reynolds, who is the Ed Wood of smut.
“What I want to do is make a film that will keep audiences in the movie houses, long after they have already jacked off,” Horner tells Dirk who is like the son he wished he had.
“I want this film to be the one people will remember me by,” he later tells his cameraman who just finished shooting Dirk’s latest movie; a skin flick rendition of the James Bond films in which the actor plays secret agent Brock Landers.
Anderson, who incorporates a variety of rock music which includes songs from the Beach Boys and Night Ranger to ELO, captures the look and feel of the late 70s in style and fashion to the early 80s. The characters sport psychedelic turtleneck shirts, long slacks, high heeled disco shoes, and jam to eight track tapes.
When there are scenes involving sexual acts, Anderson shows them through a long dark camera lens that not only shows how cheap and unskilled this type of film making really is but how devoid these actors and actresses are of talent. Then again, anyone who rents X-rated movies doesn’t get them for plot and character development.
The best scenes are when Amber makes a documentary interview with Dirk asking him questions about who Brock Landers really is. What is laughable is how Dirk and Horner take their projects seriously like they were promoting themselves for the Oscars, which in their twisted world would be awards for X-rated films.
The movie is everything the 1995 film, Showgirls, wasn’t. That picture, which was supposed to have given us a glimpse into the life of Las Vegas strippers, was nothing more than a thoughtless woman hating sexploitation flick.
Boogie Nights is about people who make cheap sexploitation flicks. What is missing from the film though is none of these characters have a soul and no shred of morality or knowledge that what they are doing for a living is destroying them both mentally and physically.
Like that in-depth article in Details magazine, Anderson gives us a reporter’s documentary perspective on the seedy underworld of pornography.
Because the script portrays individuals like Dirk Diggler, Jack Horner, Amber Waves, and Rollergirl as aimless, depressing, pathetic, soulless losers, however, Boogie Nights is only a good but often depressing film. It’s not a great movie and not one I care to see again.
©11/19/97
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