SOME SPOILERS
"Boogie Nights" may well be the best film of the 1990s. I cannot remember the last time I was so overwhelmed by a new film.
Interestingly, I was not planning to see it. I knew nothing about the director, I've never cared for Burt Reynolds, and the only thing I knew about Mark Wahlberg is that he had been an annoying boy singer and Calvin Klein model. Nor was I all that interested in seeing the story of an extremely well-endowed porn star.
A couple of months ago, I tuned in, about 20 minutes into the film, when "Boogie nights" was on cable -- and I was hooked. I have seen the entire film twice, and it has become one of my favorites.
First of all, P.T. Anderson is brilliant ... it's daunting to think he was only 27 when "BN" was made. Despite the "borrowing" from Scorsese and Altman, I believe he brings a profoundly individual vision to his work. What sets him apart is that his keen observation and satirical vision are enhanced by warmth, compassion, indeed love for the people who populate his film.
Is Anderson "judgmental" toward his characters? A friend who watched "BN" at my suggestion said that one thing he loved about the film is that it's moral but not moralistic. Anderson makes it clear that these people's lifestyle is often destructive. The critics who complained about the abrupt shift from hedonistic fun in the '70s to horror and disintegration in the '80s were mistaken. The first half has many intimations of darkness: the girl who ODs on coke at Jack's party, face streaked with blood, limbs twitching; Amber's son trying in vain to reach her at the party; Little Bill's anguish at his wife's infidelities. Clearly, too, most of these people aren't very smart, and their pretensions -- Dirk's belief in his stardom, Jack's belief in his "art" -- are ridiculous. Yet we never lose connection with their basic humanity. When Amber/Maggie is denied visitation with her son, we know it was probably the right decision yet we sympathize with her anguish.
It's the ultimate cliche to say that a film will make you laugh and cry. With "BN," it happens to be true. The "Brock Landers" clips and the preparations for Eddie/Dirk's porno debut are just two of the riotously funny scenes. On the other hand, the confrontation between Eddie and his mother or the scene of Dirk coming back to Jack asking for help have more genuine emotion and poignancy in a few brief minutes than there was in all of "Titanic." And some scenes are both comical and moving (Amber and Rollergirl talking as they snort coke, Scotty making a pass at Dirk).
This film will also make you think, without beating you over the head with a message (the way "Three Kings" does, for instance). Many say that its theme is family; but equally important is the theme of self-deception. Most of the characters are prisoners of their dreams and delusions. For Jack and Dirk, it's the delusions of glory and greatness; in Amber's case, her self-image as a good mother. (Right after telling Dirk she sees him as a son, she introduces him to cocaine -- his eventual undoing.) Why do Jack and Rollergirl unleash their fury on Rollergirl's former classmate? Because, with his comment on how squalid their lives actually are, reality intrudes on their self-enclosed world of illusion, and they can't take it.
There's no real "happy ending," either. At the end, Jack has reconciled himself to being a rich hack. A wistful-looking Amber sits at her makeup table; while Jack tells her she's the "foxiest bitch in the world," clearly her looks will be more and more difficult to keep up. As for Dirk, he has presumably kicked the drug problem and is back working, looking slick yet somehow lifeless. Note that in the infamous final shot, when he exposes his penis in front of the mirror, we don't see his face. He has been dehumanized, reduced to a sex machine -- and that's all there will ever be for him. (Think of the early scene of Eddie telling his girlfriend, "I'm going to be a star, a big bright shining star," his eyes gleaming, his voice aglow with hope, and contrast it with him saying at the end, "I am a star. A big bright shining star" -- his voice flat, his face invisible ... the real "star" is his penis.)
Despite the film's setting in the porn industry, I think "BN" has something to say about the larger culture of media glitz and celebrity-seeking.
A word about the acting. Burt Reynolds is superb; Julianne Moore truly shines. (It takes courage for a female movie star to take on a part where she often appears physically unattractive.) Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alfred Molina, John C. Reilly and Heather Graham stand out in a supporting cast that doesn't have a single bad performance. As for Mark Wahlberg, he proves himself to be one of the finest young actors working today. He is utterly convincing as he shows Eddie/Dirk's evolution from an eager-to-please, innocently amoral kid with a dopey but radiant smile to an obnoxious, egomaniacal, paranoid prima donna, and then the despair of his downfall. During the drug-deal scene, there's a close-up of his face for more than a minute, with no dialogue, and he conveys a complex range of emotion as Dirk "spaces out" listening to "Jesse's Girl" -- obviously thinking of better days, then of how low he has fallen -- and then snaps back to reality and is terrified.
"BN" is not without weaknesses. A few scenes are too long; the theme of Amber's "mother" role is overemphasized; a few plot strands are left unresolved (were there any legal consequences to Jack's and Rollergirl's assault on the guy in the limo, or to the drug deal/attempted robbery that ended in two dead bodies?). But these are minor flaws in a near-perfect work.
"Boogie Nights" may well be the best film of the 1990s. I cannot remember the last time I was so overwhelmed by a new film.
Interestingly, I was not planning to see it. I knew nothing about the director, I've never cared for Burt Reynolds, and the only thing I knew about Mark Wahlberg is that he had been an annoying boy singer and Calvin Klein model. Nor was I all that interested in seeing the story of an extremely well-endowed porn star.
A couple of months ago, I tuned in, about 20 minutes into the film, when "Boogie nights" was on cable -- and I was hooked. I have seen the entire film twice, and it has become one of my favorites.
First of all, P.T. Anderson is brilliant ... it's daunting to think he was only 27 when "BN" was made. Despite the "borrowing" from Scorsese and Altman, I believe he brings a profoundly individual vision to his work. What sets him apart is that his keen observation and satirical vision are enhanced by warmth, compassion, indeed love for the people who populate his film.
Is Anderson "judgmental" toward his characters? A friend who watched "BN" at my suggestion said that one thing he loved about the film is that it's moral but not moralistic. Anderson makes it clear that these people's lifestyle is often destructive. The critics who complained about the abrupt shift from hedonistic fun in the '70s to horror and disintegration in the '80s were mistaken. The first half has many intimations of darkness: the girl who ODs on coke at Jack's party, face streaked with blood, limbs twitching; Amber's son trying in vain to reach her at the party; Little Bill's anguish at his wife's infidelities. Clearly, too, most of these people aren't very smart, and their pretensions -- Dirk's belief in his stardom, Jack's belief in his "art" -- are ridiculous. Yet we never lose connection with their basic humanity. When Amber/Maggie is denied visitation with her son, we know it was probably the right decision yet we sympathize with her anguish.
It's the ultimate cliche to say that a film will make you laugh and cry. With "BN," it happens to be true. The "Brock Landers" clips and the preparations for Eddie/Dirk's porno debut are just two of the riotously funny scenes. On the other hand, the confrontation between Eddie and his mother or the scene of Dirk coming back to Jack asking for help have more genuine emotion and poignancy in a few brief minutes than there was in all of "Titanic." And some scenes are both comical and moving (Amber and Rollergirl talking as they snort coke, Scotty making a pass at Dirk).
This film will also make you think, without beating you over the head with a message (the way "Three Kings" does, for instance). Many say that its theme is family; but equally important is the theme of self-deception. Most of the characters are prisoners of their dreams and delusions. For Jack and Dirk, it's the delusions of glory and greatness; in Amber's case, her self-image as a good mother. (Right after telling Dirk she sees him as a son, she introduces him to cocaine -- his eventual undoing.) Why do Jack and Rollergirl unleash their fury on Rollergirl's former classmate? Because, with his comment on how squalid their lives actually are, reality intrudes on their self-enclosed world of illusion, and they can't take it.
There's no real "happy ending," either. At the end, Jack has reconciled himself to being a rich hack. A wistful-looking Amber sits at her makeup table; while Jack tells her she's the "foxiest bitch in the world," clearly her looks will be more and more difficult to keep up. As for Dirk, he has presumably kicked the drug problem and is back working, looking slick yet somehow lifeless. Note that in the infamous final shot, when he exposes his penis in front of the mirror, we don't see his face. He has been dehumanized, reduced to a sex machine -- and that's all there will ever be for him. (Think of the early scene of Eddie telling his girlfriend, "I'm going to be a star, a big bright shining star," his eyes gleaming, his voice aglow with hope, and contrast it with him saying at the end, "I am a star. A big bright shining star" -- his voice flat, his face invisible ... the real "star" is his penis.)
Despite the film's setting in the porn industry, I think "BN" has something to say about the larger culture of media glitz and celebrity-seeking.
A word about the acting. Burt Reynolds is superb; Julianne Moore truly shines. (It takes courage for a female movie star to take on a part where she often appears physically unattractive.) Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alfred Molina, John C. Reilly and Heather Graham stand out in a supporting cast that doesn't have a single bad performance. As for Mark Wahlberg, he proves himself to be one of the finest young actors working today. He is utterly convincing as he shows Eddie/Dirk's evolution from an eager-to-please, innocently amoral kid with a dopey but radiant smile to an obnoxious, egomaniacal, paranoid prima donna, and then the despair of his downfall. During the drug-deal scene, there's a close-up of his face for more than a minute, with no dialogue, and he conveys a complex range of emotion as Dirk "spaces out" listening to "Jesse's Girl" -- obviously thinking of better days, then of how low he has fallen -- and then snaps back to reality and is terrified.
"BN" is not without weaknesses. A few scenes are too long; the theme of Amber's "mother" role is overemphasized; a few plot strands are left unresolved (were there any legal consequences to Jack's and Rollergirl's assault on the guy in the limo, or to the drug deal/attempted robbery that ended in two dead bodies?). But these are minor flaws in a near-perfect work.