1997’s “Boogie Nights“, written and directed by Paul Thomas
Anderson.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John
C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Jack Wallace, Thomas Jane, Philip Baker Hall, and Ricky
Jay.
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), and Best Supporting Actor (Burt Reynolds).
What is it about?
During 1977, high school aged dishwasher Mark Wahlberg is
working at a club one night when he meets pornographer, Burt Reynolds. With
Wahlberg on the outs from his shrill mother and indifferent father, Reynolds
becomes a surrogate father figure to him and introduces Walhberg into his de
facto family of adult film creators. From matriarch (Julianne Moore) to brother
in arms (John C. Reilly) to sister figure (Heather Graham) to fellow actor
(Luis Guzman) to sound man (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to 2nd Director
(William H. Macy) to camera man (Ricky Jay) to financer (Jack Wallace), all of
them figure into Wahlberg’s journey from a dishwasher to a pornography star to
something else entirely. As the 70’s good times ebb into the more difficult 80’s,
film transitions into video, and the positive vibes start to peter out, will
Wahlberg be able to regain his mojo?
Why is it worth seeing?
Even though Paul Thomas Anderson’ s debut feature was 1996’s
“Hard Eight”, “Boogie Nights” is really his coming out party. Packed with stars
giving career invigorating (and revitalizing) performances, Anderson apes such
icons such as Scorcese, De Palma, and Tarantino, but also crafts an immersive
family drama- where none of the characters are related and every member has to
come to grips with their respective traumas.
It’s easy to condemn the subject matter depicted here. This
is a movie about the pornography industry through the 70’s and 80’s, and to
some, hardly something worth celebrating. Not surprisingly, the characters have
freewheeling lifestyles, and rather liberal attitudes about their behaviours in
a society just beginning to discover video tape and the war on drugs. But a
little insight reveals that our hero’s journey is the very definition of
wayward, and that the surrogate family here is the stuff the “Fast and Furious” franchise claims to
be made out of.
This may be Reynold’s most fully realized role, as his
patriarchal porn director who deeply cares for his cast and just wants to make
art, sets the table for some serious utopian ideals that may not hold up to
society (Reynolds, brought back to life from career hell by Anderson, allegedly
feuded with the director at times, and pissed away any good will that he
generated here, fading back to VOD obscurity shortly after). Wahlberg is
fantastic too, portraying the teenager/young adult as a combination of simple
earnestness and a growing confidence in himself and his ahem, talent, that
boils to a head. As his career advanced from an underwear model, it’s a place
Wahlberg seems to have forgotten as he’s tried to present himself as a
confident A lister- an awkward fit
at times.
It would be easy to label “Boogie Nights” as a comedy. Some
of it’s inspired scenes about the creation of Wahlberg’s pseudonym, Reynold’s
detachment about his colleague’s professional choices, or it’s digs at dated
technology and lifestyles, are a riot. But Anderson’s true strength is in his
depiction of relationships, something that he is just exploring in this phase
of his career, before going on to create masterpieces such as “The Master” and
“There Will be Blood”, as well as “Magnolia”. Like any young and exciting
filmmaker, Anderson does a fine job of copying masters before him, but some of
the motivations that inspire characters to make their choices, or the
characters themselves, can feel a little unnatural (Wahlberg’s parents for
example). And watching a character make a choice during a hold up gone up wrong
could have ended in a lot more ambiguity for increased potency.
Equal parts propulsive and hilarious, “Boogie Nights”’
feelings on being a bright star in a universe full of them fortunately remind
us that in a weird and exciting world, sometimes family is all you’ve got.
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