Boogie Nights is a captivating snapshot of the late 1970s and early ‘80s and the adult film industry before video, DVDs and the Internet turned it into a $10-billion cash cow. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson effectively captures the temper of the era in all its hedonistic decadence, from the casual sex to the illicit drug use to the loose morality that defined the decade.
What could have been a depressing three-hour cautionary tale of the era’s excesses turned out to be a fascinating and thoughtful examination of a group of flawed individuals who form a familial bond in the most unlikely of circumstances and settings.
Strong Cast Brings Film To Life
The film boasts a stellar cast that includes Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy and Philip Baker Hall. Screen veteran Burt Reynolds turns in one of his best performances as adult film director Jack Horner. Jack has designs to be a “real” filmmaker, meaning he wants to be taken seriously as a director outside of the porn industry. He feels that his work will one day be respected by mainstream audiences and ultimately change people’s perceptions of adult films. His ambitions reveal how different things were back in the late '70s in that many thought that X-rated movies would eventually become a legitimate and respected genre in mainstream filmmaking. In Reynolds' hands, Jack is a compelling character, who is turns charming, scary, paternal and sleazy.
Mark Wahlberg, in a star-making performance, is top-notch as Eddie Adams, the troubled teen who stumbles into the porn industry. Eddie’s an emotionally wounded kid who’s constantly belittled by his bitter, shrewish mother. His caring but browbeaten father provides him little help from his mother’s verbal assaults. Eddie’s in sore need of someone who will make him feel that he has some value and will provide him unconditional love. Jack and the crew of his production company take Eddie in and become his surrogate family and provide him the unconditional love that was missing in his real family.
It turns out that Eddie’s a natural, as he’s, shall we say, gifted in an area that would make him very bankable in the adult film business. He rechristens himself Dirk Diggler and has a short reign as the top male star in the porn industry before drugs and ego take him down. Diggler’s character is loosely based on real-life porn star John Holmes who went from being top dog in the porn biz to a desperate drug addict, eventually dying from AIDS-related complications at 43 in 1988.
Drug-Fueled Violence
This film contains several disturbing scenes of graphic violence, most of them triggered by excessive cocaine use. However, these scenes were not gratuitous but were necessary to show the brutal reality of the environment in which the characters inhabited. Probably the most chilling and riveting scene in the entire film takes place when Dirk and his two buddies (played by John C. Reilly and Thomas Jane) get in over their heads when they try to rip off a wealthy drug dealer (played brilliantly by Alfred Molina). The scene unfolds like a great piece of music. The tension builds and builds until it reaches a crescendo of heightened emotion and violence. Director Anderson has said in interviews that the scene was inspired by the real-life Wonderland murders in which John Holmes was involved. Holmes was on the scene when the crime took place, but it was never confirmed whether he participated in the actual murders.
Paul Thomas Anderson, A Director To Be Reckoned With
In only his second feature film, Anderson proved that he was director of great vision and talent. Though he was working with a large cast, he managed to make the viewer get emotionally invested in each character. Anderson has further displayed his gifts in films following Boogie Nights such as Punch-Drunk Love and Magnolia. He always manages to get the best out of his actors. When watching Boogie Nights, it’s clear that Anderson was greatly influenced by legendary director Martin Scorsese. Any Scorsese fan will notice the Scorsesian touches throughout the film. However, Anderson definitely has a unique and original style of filmmaking that’s all his own and will no doubt continue to make compelling films.
