note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . 
be forewarned . 
like its own opening shot , from out of the darkness boogie nights triumphantly explodes upon the film scene with stunning authority and clarity , persuasively heralding its helmer paul thomas anderson as a bonafide major talent . 
a sprawling epic set in the heart of the disco era and focused upon the ascension and decline of a troupe in the adult film industry , boogie nights is an astonishingly ambitious feature film which is completely effective both as an utterly entertaining joyride and as a strikingly impressive piece of filmmaking . 
the film follows a soft-spoken young man , eddie adams ( mark wahlberg ) from torrance , through his induction into the erotic picture business to stardom , and later , to a harrowingly precipitous drop . 
as boogie nights opens , he's toiling as a dishwasher in a trendy san fernando valley nightclub , and living at home under the thumb of a tyrannical mother who denigrates him at every opportunity . 
recruited by fatherly jack horner ( a rejuvenated burt reynolds ) , a successful porn filmmaker , eddie abandons his old life in favour of a new one as dirk diggler , pornstar . 
wholeheartedly embraced by jack's troupe , including the maternal amber waves ( julianne moore ) , reed rothchild ( john c . reilly ) , buck swope ( don cheadle ) , rollergirl ( heather graham ) , dirk and his " one special thing " are quickly propelled to the top of his field , fulfilling his mantra of being a " big bright shining star " . 
his lack of discipline , however , incites a chain of circumstances which sees dirk and his friends unravel as a new decade is ushered in . 
the element of boogie nights which literally commands attention is the bravura direction by mr . anderson , whose fascination and prowess with the camera is obvious . 
from the terrific tracking shot throughout a nightclub which opens the film and introduces the players through to the showy sequence in the camera follows a female partygoer diving into a pool , mr . anderson's accomplished command of the camera is without question . 
while novice directors often demonstrate an unfortunate lack of restraint in terms of flamboyant camerawork which ultimately proves to be aggravating , impertinent and self-congratulatory ( case in point : marc rocco's unforgettable perpetual-motion helming of murder in the first ) , in boogie nights every zoom or pan by mr . anderson , be it slow and deliberate or energetically sharp , is purposeful and potent . 
it's a rarity and a delight to discover such a confidently assured work so early in a filmmaker's career -- boogie nights is only his second feature film , following up his debut feature from earlier this year , hard eight -- and although it's somewhat derivative ( his storytelling style is reminiscent of robert altman , while in terms of visuals he's clearly influenced by martin scorsese ) , at least he's borrowing from some of the best , and it's entirely effective within the context of this film . 
while boogie nights is astonishingly polished from a technical perspective , in terms of sheer entertainment value it's also rollicking good fun , with a wickedly deadpan sense of humour . 
the film perfectly captures the essence of the disco period in terms of music , clothes , hairstyles , dance , idioms , and culture , aided immeasurably by impeccable production design by bob ziembicki and costume design by mark bridges , and boogie nights convincingly catapults the audience back to this recent , pre-aids-scare period in american history where uninhibited , free-wheeling lifestyles abounded . 
while much of the film's humour pertains to the characters' obliviousness of now-outdated aspects of their lives then prevalent in society -- a prime example is part-time salesman buck swope's demo of a stereo system with an eight-track tape , and inviting a prospective customer to get 'freaky deaky' with the music -- it's elicited with an undercurrent not of ridicule , but of wistful reminiscence , and some the throwback elements in the film are strangely wondrous . 
a giant ensemble disco dance production number in a nightclub is funny , to be sure , but oddly magical , and the sequence which lovingly explores eddie/dirk's bedroom , completely adorned with posters and elements of iconic 1970s figures ( farrah fawcett , cheryl tiegs , bruce lee ) is breathtaking . 
ably supported by a well-selected collection of period music ( all of which purportedly came straight from mr . anderson's personal collection ) , there's a clear affection for the era in boogie nights . 
it's the period aspect and the playfully comic nostaligism of boogie nights which has been played up in its marketing campaign in deference of the pornography element of the storyline ; the film's promotional trailer markedly avoids any explicit reference to the adult film industry which unites its characters . 
after the debacle with 1996's milos forman film , the people vs . 
larry flynt , another finely-crafted work which was knocked off the market prematurely due to controversy regarding its pornography-related storyline , the new line marketing team faced a unique challenge with boogie nights in terms of attempting to deemphasize the relatively risque erotic picture element of the story in order to increase salability to the general public . 
however , while boogie nights delves into the world of the adult film industry of two decades ago , it's hardly a lurid or seamy film -- given the subject matter , there's very little nudity , and virtually none of it can be construed as gratuitous -- and boogie nights smartly depicts erotic filmmaking not as a hotbed of carnality , but simply as a business . 
the glimpses on the sets of jack horner's shoots reveal that while the films he makes are intended to titillate , there's a candid matter-of-factness in terms of sex ; his cast and crew are professionals who are merely doing a job , and it's refreshing that the obvious cliches of depravity and sinful lechery often linked to dismissive portraits of adult filmmaking , such as coercion or debauchery , are avoided . 
if anything , boogie nights is more interested in the process of adult filmmaking than the adult films themselves . 
jack horner's dream is an honourable one -- he genuinely aspires to make a great film -- and to some degree boogie nights is reminiscent of ed wood ( albeit lacking a certain wistful innocence ) . 
in both films , the world of quickie low-budget filmmaking is explored , and both jack horner and the version of ed wood by tim burton , scott alexander , and larry karaszewski share similar mindsets -- jack's retort of " there are shadows in light , baby " to his cinematographer's complaint about poor set lighting echoes back to ed wood's " it's not about the little details , it's about the big picture ! " 
rant when it is pointed out that his graveyard set for plan 9 from outer space appears patently false . 
in boogie nights and ed wood , the aspirations of the respective filmmakers' prove to be bemusing , not in their intentions -- there's nothing inherently silly in the goal of making an 'artistic' erotic picture -- but in the degree that they miss the mark . 
much like the humour lacing ed wood , the laughs involving jack horner are double-edged ; after viewing a hilarious excerpt from one of his latest films which hybridizes the james bond and porn genres , when jack breathes " this is the best work i've ever done " , it's genuinely funny , but given his utter sincerity , also possesses a tinge of sadness . 
mr . anderson is at this point clearly a greater talent as a director than a screenwriter . 
while boogie nights shows great inventiveness in staging , there really isn't any clever dialogue in the film , though a valid point certainly can be made that none of the film's characters particularly lend themselves to thoughtful verbal exchanges ; when one considers that the film's * protagonist * literally doesn't say a single insightful thing throughout the entire 152 minute running time , it's no wonder why the playfully inane " how much can you bench ? " 
banter between dirk and reed constitutes one of the film's finest exchanges . 
and while mr . anderson creates a rich collection of fascinating characters , it's problematic that some of the the threads given to the film's characters are simply stale material -- julianne moore's child custody battle is fairly cliched stuff , better suited for a less risque and uninspired tv-movie version of her character's story , and far less interesting than the thread dealing with her woefully hackneyed filmmaking ambitions . 
still , even if he doesn't always know what to do with his characters , mr . anderson most definitely captures their essences , and his resolutely nonjudgemental affection for them is infectious -- misguided , even aimless , hopelessly naive , self-destructive , insufferable : i loved them just the same . 
in any case , it's hard to pick nits with a screenplay which contains one of the most audacious and inspired ( and ultimately best-executed ) scenes of the year : a scene where dirk diggler and reed rothchild are dragged along by their loose-cannon compadre to the home of drug baron rahad jackson ( a mesmerizing alfred molina in an unforgettable performance , even if it's a small one ) in a suicidal drug deal scam , only to find that the millionaire is a crazed eccentric ( the part where he stops the deal to listen to the crescendo of night ranger's " sister christian " on his stereo system is sheer brilliance ) flanked by an armed bodyguard . 
if this scene already wasn't tense enough with these elements , mr . anderson introduces a chinese boy that wanders through the scene , who for no discernable reason is tossing firecrackers around the room , pushing the scene to a new , surreal level of delightful giddiness . 
there are some other interesting touches in boogie nights . 
mr . anderson recycles the use of long methodical chimes on the soundtrack from hard eight ; here , it accompanies the violent intercut sequences which depict the prostration of various characters to frightening effect . 
similarly , a painful scene where crew member scotty j ( philip seymour hoffman ) breaks down in tears in the driver's seat , sobbing " i'm so stupid " after being rebuffed by dirk after an awkward but heartfelt advance is strikingly played out exactly as a later scene with dirk in the driver's seat after a particularly tumultuous and traumatic evening . 
boogie nights is exceedingly well cast , and each of the actors rise to the occasion ; the ensemble cast is uniformly good . 
while most of the acting accolades will no doubt go to mr . wahlberg ( fulfilling upon the sparks of promise he demonstrated in some of his earlier films ) and mr . reynolds ( terrific as the father figure and stable anchor of the film , ringing true in every respect ) , a handful of other performances which might otherwise be overlooked deem mention . 
mr . reilly demonstrates here , as he did for brief glimpses in ulu grosbard's georgia , a genuine aptitude for comedy -- many of his scenes in boogie nights are among the very funniest in the film . 
i'm not sure how much of his performance as reed was scripted and how much was done on the spot , but he plays the quintessential second banana character to a tee . 
mr . reilly is the best part of the big disco dance production number , and it's wickedly funny to watch his reed join in with dirk after the fact in threatening the new stud on the block during a macho altercation . 
worth the price of admission alone is the glimpse of him getting down in the recording studio while the dirk character is laying down a numbingly bad ( and dead-on period ; it sure sounds like bad early 1980s to me ) demo track " you got the touch " in a vain attempt at a musical career . 
mr . reilly plays his vacant character with utter conviction which is convincing and effective . 
ms . graham , with her long dirty blonde hair , innocent demeanour , and huge hazel eyes , looks like a disney animated heroine come to life -- or in this case , a disney animated heroine who came to life , made a wrong turn , and ended up on the new line lot in a film focused on the late 70s / early 80s adult film industry . 
consequently , it's a bit incongruous to see this cheery sweet-faced starlet whizzing about the set on her roller skates , but in a scene where she's lounging in a limousine prowling the streets , garish red lipstick messily smeared on , giving the camera a hilariously pouty come-hither look , all one can do is gulp . 
her role in the film sadly needs more fleshing out ( err -- in a figurative sense ) -- she's essentially a glorified extra -- but she does score impressively in her key scene which is unnerving in its sheer primal ferocity . 
 ( if only mr . anderson had filmed the scene so that we could actually see the expression of rage and anguish on her face , though ! ) 
and a cautionary tale for the strict and prudish : as a teen , ms . graham's parents forbade her to take a part in the twisted cult classic heathers ; since then , her most notable roles have been as a junkie ( gus van sant's drugstore cowboy ) and now a porn starlet . 
draw your own conclusions . 
perhaps the most quietly touching performance in boogie nights is that of mr . cheadle , who lends dignity to his role as a character in search of his identity , and whose quest is comically manifested by a series of changes in his sense of fashion . 
his relationship with his cheerfully supportive new wife jessie st . vincent ( an interesting melora walters ) is wholly compelling has genuine sweetness , and although his general longing for acceptance from others is perceptible , it's no more so than in the bank scene where his loan application to open a stereo store is rejected due to his background in the porn industry . 
while the scenario is familiar , the wounded look in cheadle's eyes makes the scene unforgettable . 
luis guzman's most famous work is possibly in brian de palma's carlito's way , and here he plays a variation on the same character : maurice t . rodriguez is a hapless but good-natured nightclub owner who's a hanger-on to jack's group , ingratiating himself into the clique and constantly hounding jack , with little disguise made of his desperation , for a part in one of his erotic pictures . 
jack's eventual acquiescence to maurice's request leads to one of boogie nights' biggest comic payoffs . 
boogie nights is a stunning achievement due to the virtuoso direction by mr . anderson , who immediately asserts his presence in the film industry as a presence of note with this work . 
striking a fine balance between humour and drama , and exceptionally well-crafted , there's no doubt that boogie nights is among the very best films of the year .