Boogie Nights (1997) *****

 

17-year-old Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) dreams of something better than washing dishes and making extra money showing his large penis to random men. When adult-film director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) offers him the chance to act in a porno, Eddie never looks back. Handsome, well-endowed, and un-self-conscious, Eddie was made for the job. Changing his name to Dirk Diggler, he rises to the top of the industry. Along the way, the once-wholesome young man gets well acquainted with the porn industry's considerable dark side.

The story draws heavily from the real-life story of porn-star John Holmes and his director, Bob Chinn. Like Holmes and Chinn, the fictional Diggler and Horner create a series of porno-detective-action movies. In “Boogie Nights,” Dirk is also featured in a documentary about his life and career that is extremely similar to the real-life documentary “Exhausted: John C. Holmes, The Real Story.” Nonetheless, “Boogie Nights” is not a biopic; it's a fictional story that happens to draw a lot of inspiration from real life.

“Boogie Nights” was not director Paul Thomas Anderson's first film, but it was the movie that made him a household name among certain households, and I think it may still be his best picture ever. Often hilarious, sometimes serious, occasionally sexy, the movie is gripping throughout its 2 ½ hour run time. The depth of acting talent is amazing, including Reynolds, Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Don Cheadle, and the list goes on. There's a saying that there are no small roles, only small actors, and in “Boogie Nights” there are no small actors. Anderson takes all this talent and weaves it into a makeshift family, whose members are completely unaware of how ridiculous they are. We get to laugh at their silliness and still view their humanity.

A distinction needs to be made between a movie ABOUT porn and a movie that IS porn. “Boogie Nights” has some nudity and sex, but it is NOT pornography, and it isn't even all that erotic. Nonetheless, Anderson had to do some careful editing to get an R rating instead of an NC-17. The film's two biggest stars, Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, have also expressed some regrets about making “Boogie Nights,” despite the fact that it launched Wahlberg's career as a serious actor and revitalized Reynolds's fading career. I find it sad that people who are offended by the film are probably more offended by the sex scenes than by the scenes of violence or homophobia. I guess that's just the world we live in. The movie isn't for everyone, but for those who aren't bothered by the subject matter, it's an absolute classic tale about the rise of a star and the decline of an industry.

5 stars out of 5