Boogie Nights
Chad'z rating: ***1/2 (out of 4 = very good)
1997, R, 152 minutes [2 hours, 32 minutes]
[drama/crime]
starring: Mark Wahlberg (Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler), Burt Reynolds (Jack Horner), Julianne Moore (Amber Waves), Heather Graham (Rollergirl); produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Lloyd Levin, John Lyons, Joanne Sellar; written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Seen Saturday, November 1, 1997 at 3:15 p.m. at Mohawk Mall (Schenectady, NY) for $4.25 by myself.
There's been a number of epic, "The Rise and Fall of..." films released in the last few years. It's a formula that's guaranteed for success if the characters are developed well enough so that when they "fall" it's effective. Most films using this formula are about low and/or high class criminals, but what makes "Boogie Nights" so original and daring is the fact it's about people who produce pornography. Yet this isn't a film about freedom of speech and ethics (a la "The People Vs. Larry Flynt"), it's just a detailed study of characters most mainstream films wouldn't dare deal with.
I'm sure everyone has wondered make kind of people are involved in the porn industry. Are they sick and twisted or are they everyday people? Are they exploiting their wild sexuality with porn, or does porn make them sexually wild? It's a classic case of "the chicken and the egg," and the film leaves it up to us to answer those questions.
This idea is perfectly illustrated through the main character, Eddie Adams (Wahlberg), a busboy who's very well-endowed and doesn't consider himself a stud, or at least realize he is and what he could do. He is approached by Jack Horner (Reynolds), an adult filmmaker who takes his profession seriously and knows Eddie could be a major star. Eddie comes from a dysfunctional family, and when his mother kicks him out, he takes up Horner's offer not knowing whether he'll enjoy it or not.
Although Eddie (who changes his name to Dirk Diggler) is the film's protagonist, Horner is the catalyst around whom everything revolves. The film takes place in the late 1970s and early 80s when porn was moving from theaters to home video, but Horner insists on shooting all his movies on film since he considers it an artform. This fact on its own makes it seem as if Horner is one sick puppy, but within the film's context it makes sense because we get to know him well enough to understand his rationalization, yet we're not asked to condone or condemn him.
In fact, that idea symbolizes the film's usage of characterization and theme. It delves deep into the industry, creating for an extremely nihilistic, almost anarchic lifestyle (it's surprising this wasn't rated NC-17). Many of the "actors" are drug addicts who do it for the money, while others are seemingly normal people who just happen to be porn stars. The business is such a part of their daily routine and their overall lifestyle there's almost no distinction between the characters' personal lives and professional lives. For example, consider the starlet Rollergirl (Graham) who is called by that name at all times because nobody even knows her real name. Or Amber Waves (Moore), a starlet who tries to be something of a mother to the actors - someone they can look to for support.... among other things.
The first half documents the rise of Diggler from a nobody to a somebody, and in the process does a good job in defining atmosphere and character. But history proves fame can be taken away just as quickly as it was given, and this happens here as Diggler (along with some of his co-stars) becomes a drug addict. At first, he was coerced into drug use, but eventually he seemed to genuinely enjoy it - so whose fault is it?
By the two-thirds point the film becomes more of a straight crime story showing Diggler's attempts to get by using any means necessary. At the same time, Horner starts losing his edge because he's so adamantly opposed to switching to the mass market appeal of VHS home video ("Like any amateur can just pick up a camera and make a movie!?"). I didn't like the gloomy direction the story takes at this point. I felt as if I had seen most of it before, in films such as "Trainspotting," "GoodFellas," and "Casino." The story wanders a bit more than it needs to and I found myself becoming a little restless. However, the ending is clever and poetic.
There's much to commend "Boogie Nights" for, mostly for the chance it takes in telling the story it does, but also for its use of open-ended themes so everyone will leave without feeling as if they'd been preached to, just intellectually stimulated.
e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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