Review of Boogie Nights (1997) by Wizgullofa — 10 Jan 2017

Boogie Nights is an incredibly well directed movie about the seedy, psuedo-glamorous industry of pornography. The best parts of the film are in the direction and atmosphere of the movie. The costumes, colors, and environment bleed late 1970'2 Los Angeles.

The film is in essence about sex as a commodity. Throughout the film there is no passion or love it is just a way of making money. In one scene when Dirk Diggler's package is finally revealed it is not as a tease or anything like that; it is for us to see what the moneymaking product is.

The film's performances are all solid and interesting. Burt Reynolds is phenomenal as the director Jack Horner and the rest o the performances are all interesting and show the actors and actresses as people, not objects.

One other thing about "Boogie Nights" is how it effortlessly brings together humor, drama, and action. Julianne Moore's custody battle for her child is a particularly heart-wrenching scene; while the pool scenes bring in more comedic elements.

However, Boogie Nights does have a few shortcomings. The entire second half of the movie teeters on being melodramatic and gets rid of the likability of some of the characters. I understand that it is meant to show what fame does to people but to me it wasn't the right direction for the movie to take.

Also, a few scenes such as the scene at the drug dealer's house were out of character and were more upsetting then integral to the plot. Despite these shortcomings "Boogie Nights" is an excellent movie by an excellent director.