Jack takes one look at Eddie's unwrapped package and, presto, a huge star is born. Amber, as in Amber Waves, is a porn star and the mother figure little Dirkie needs. He even gets to sleep with her. Soon the '70s become the '80s and the heavy drugs start taking their toll. Video has changed the porn business forever and Dirk's enormous, uh, ego has become even more engorged.
Bad times are a-coming.
Ambitious young studs are being groomed to take the star's place. By 1983, poor Diggler's just one more limp Dirk. All of this sounds pretty lurid, but young director Paul Thomas Anderson keeps the heady material from dragging us down with the characters. It is all surprisingly buoyant and, at times, even affecting. The cast is near perfect.