Review of Boogie Nights (1997) by Adrian B — 04 Nov 2013

Eddie Adams (Mark Walhberg) is recruited at his nightclub job by a big shot pornography director named Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds). Eddie, who boasts apparently a substantially large penis is the sure thing for the adult filmmaking industry (this is the late 1970's by the way when "Close Encounters of Third Kind" and "Saturday Night Live" hit theatres just to contrast mainstream movies with the porn flicks). He begins to work his way into the crowd to the likes of porn stars Maggie (Juliana Moore), the love of Jack; Brandi (Heather Graham), the "rollergirl" who also works at the nightclub with Eddie; Buck Swope (Don Cheadle) who works at retailer in addition to his pornography career; Reed Rothchild, another actor who becomes best friends with Eddie; Little Bill Thompson (William H. Macy), whose wife is always with a better looking man; and Scotty J. (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), who begins to have a thing for Eddie. His crowd does him in, he changes his name to Dirk Diggler, and he experiences great success thanks to his sexual yearning, although he begins to dive into the life of partying and excessive drug use (cocaine seems big here).

I never base a rating on nudity, and there is a lot of it in this film (also some of Mark Walhberg that doesn't really need to be described). The big purpose of this movie is the analysis of the porn industry and it never takes sides. It just films the characters' actions with no bias. You also feel for these characters and begin to yell at Eddie (Dirk) when he at one point screws up his career (seriously, he should have got an education and applied himself to something more practical, but yet we still feel porn is the right move for him(!)). It is a film that's so substantial and unforgettable that even scenes that seem excessive in terms of intensity, with gun violence and drug use, fit in perfectly. The dialogue becomes pretty loaded with profanities half way through but yet, this is a one-of-a-kind movie. The ending is not what I pictured at all. My caring for these characters is also not what I would have expected. They lead such pitiful, not preferred lifestyles and yet there are so well-developed and Eddie has the drive, both in terms of dedication and sex organ. Acting is quite good, and there some very funny moments, but it mainly a drama of impressive sophistication, despite porn being the subject matter. A great movie no doubt!