Boogie Nights (1997)
director: paul thomas anderson
cast: mark wahlberg, burt reynolds, luis guzmán, julianne moore, don cheadle, philip baker hall, philip seymour hoffman, heather graham, william h. macy, thomas jane, john c. reilly, ricky jay, robert ridgely, alfred molina, nicole ari parker
There's
nothing like a great set piece in a film. My favorites from the last three decades
include the Russian Roulette sequence in "The Deer Hunter", the chain
saw sequence in "Scarface", and Uma Thurman's dance, overdose, and
resurrection in "Pulp Fiction". But now there's "Boogie Nights",
directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which features what could be one of the greatest
scenes in the history of film. I know I'm making a bold statement, but if you've
seen "Boogie Nights" you know what I'm talking about. If yo haven't,
I'd hate to spoil anything. All I'll say is that Mark Wahlberg, who's very good
as a porn star named Dirk Diggler (loosely based on the life of John Holmes),
and his friends pay a visit to drug dealer Alfred Molina, and when the gates
to Molina's mini fortress open to Night Ranger's "Sister Christian",
you're in for a treat. It's rare that a film surprises or unnerves me. Taratino
did it in "Pulp", Fincher got me with the ending in "Seven",
and now I bow at the altar of a God called Paul Thomas Anderson for giving me
a moment of pure cinematic fucking gold.
"Boogie
Nights" lacks some depth but I forgive it because it's such a great piece
of stylish entertainment. Priceless bits include Robert Ridgely, playing a backer
of porn films, asking to see Wahlberg's big cock, Philip Baker Hall's entrance
to Sniff 'n the Tears' "Driver's Seat", and Heather Graham taking
off her clothes to Melanie's "Brand New Key", a song my family heard
dozens of times driving down Florida on vacation in the early seventies. Leave
it to Anderson, who, like Taratino, unearths these little pop gems (The Statler
Brother's "Flowers on the Wall" in "Pulp", which Bruce Willis
croons before slamming his car into Ving Rhames, being another favorite I discovered
on my parent's eight track) and forever etch them into celluloid history. Another
of those award show injustices will be perpetrated (sorry to sound like a cop)
if Kim Bassinger wins the Best Supporting Actress oscar for L.A. Confidential
over Julianne Moore, who plays a veteran porn star. Moore does more acting in
her sex scene with Wahlberg than Bassinger's does in her whole so-called filmography.
Seventies icon Burt Reynolds will walk away with the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor because his performance as the paternal porn film director
is so subtle and controlled, a perfect contrast to Wahlberg's "It's my
big dick and I want to fuck" childish rantings. I've also got a thing for
a movie that brings me back to my designer jeans, blow-dried hair teen years
of the late seventies. – Peter DeMarco
$9.50
© 1997 Peter DeMarco