Boogie Nights

**Boogie Nights** is a 1997 American period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, chronicling his rise in the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s through to his fall during the excesses of the 1980s. The film is an expansion of Anderson's mockumentary short film The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), and stars Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heather Graham.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 1997 and was theatrically released on October 10, 1997

## Plot

In the San Fernando Valley in 1977, teenage busboy Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) gets discovered by porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), who transforms him into adult-film sensation Dirk Diggler. Brought into a supportive circle of friends, including fellow actors Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), Rollergirl (Heather Graham) and Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), Dirk fulfills all his ambitions, but a toxic combination of drugs and egotism threatens to take him back down.

## Why It's A Good Boogie Night

1. The soundtrack. Wow. There are several songs that are awesome, but Rahad Jackson getting high to "Sister Christian" and "Jesse's Girl" is by far the best.
2. One of the major themes of the movie, how the rise of videotape changed the industry from something where creators could at least try to tell a story along with the sex, to where you just cranked out product quickly and cheaply, is similar in many ways to how the internet changed the way the business worked. The rise of sites with lots of free videos, many of them just uploaded personal sex tapes, further reduced the ability of performers to make a living as they try to compete with an ocean of free clips.
3. While the story has a familiar framework, which is essentially a rise/fall story, the director avoids many cliche moments by having so many characters, whose respective arcs conclude in a variety of unpredictable and exciting ways.
4. Dirk and Reed's attempt to make a record, surely a Crowning Moment of Stylistic Suck. Notable for Mark Wahlberg skilfully averting Hollywood Tone-Deaf by sounding like an average-to-bad singer who thinks he's a great one, but also for their general ineptitude. The look of barely-maintained patience on engineer Michael Penn's face is priceless.
5. The acting ensemble is stunning. Here are many examples; Mark Wahlberg, John C. Riley, Bert Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, William H. Macy, the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alfred Molina and more. Yes, this is an all-star cast; and every role is pitch-perfect.
6. The screenplay and directing by Paul Thomas Anderson is lively, funny, dark, tragic, beautiful, sassy, sexual, and commanding in the best possible ways. Cultural references abound, but never linger or distract. Satire is present, but the film never becomes a full-blown satire. The film goes down dark paths, but it never looses its cinematic bravado and lightheartedness.
7. The cinematography is utterly breathtaking, with a mirage of colors, sights, sounds, and feelings splashing onto the frame. Its a minor miracle at times, with every light and shadow notching up the level of suspense or awe on display. Of all once, the film was shot by Robert Elswit, who is the best cinematographers working today. Still, It's a marvelous and magical looking piece of works, and even seductive at times, suiting the story that involves a bunch of individuals who work in the adult film industry.

## Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Grounded in strong characters, bold themes, and subtle storytelling, Boogie Nights is a groundbreaking film both for director P.T. Anderson and star Mark Wahlberg.". On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.

## Trivia

* Anderson originally wanted the role of Eddie to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio, after seeing him in The Basketball Diaries. DiCaprio enjoyed the screenplay, but had to turn it down because he signed on to star in Titanic. He recommended Mark Wahlberg for the role.