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'Boogie Nights' is an epic about the porn industry, which is so disinterested in sex that it could never be accused of being anything like what it portrays. Sex here, is a product, linked with bad storylines and laughable dialogue to be presented in film format for entertainment value, there is little eroticism. This is pornography at the height of its popularity, in the 1970s, when it is a cesspool of overindulgence, with drugs and parties, people who screw on camera because it pays really well, and not because they enjoy it. It seems like an easy career, no real talent is required, except, of course, for any natural talent that may be growing between one's legs. That is the case with Eddie Adams (Wahlberg), a young kid who works at a restaurant, going nowhere fast, glimpsed by a prominent porn director named Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) and told that he can be a star. Adams agrees, and Horner keeps his promise, molding Eddie into Dirk Diggler, who becomes a major celebrity, and constructing an opulent and luxurious lifestyle for himself. Horner lives with actress Amber Waves (Moore), who takes a liking to Dirk and spends many nights crying as she talks with her ex-husband, begging him to see their son. Heather Graham is Rollergirl, who never takes off her skates, and goes to high school, where she is apparently taunted by her male classmates, who obviously know who she is and what she does, which takes a toll on her. She does not seem to want to have a career in sex for the rest of her life. William H Macy is Bill, Jack's assistant director, whose wife is always caught screwing other men, even in public, and she just dismisses his anger and frustration, until it pushes him too far. John C Reilly is Dirk's friend and co-star Reed, who follows a similar path to destruction, through cocaine and alcohol. Don Cheadle is Buck, also a porn actor, who wants to quit the business and open an electronics store, maybe settle down and have a family. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Scotty, on the camera crew, who develops a crush on Dirk, and wants to have sex with him, but his advances are strongly rejected. There is the Colonel, Jack's silver-haired producer, and his boss, Floyd (Phillip Baker Hall), who is most likely in the mafia, which was known to have controlled all of the nastiest vices. This ensemble drama focuses primarily on Eddie and his fall from grace, and also on Jack as he tries to cope with the changing trends, as a new decade approaches, and videotapes are going to be the new revolution in porn. Director Paul Thomas Anderson crafts an impressive collection of stories about the porn industry, and creates interesting and surprisingly complex characters whose very lives are deeply connected and immersed in it. Superb authenticity is created through a committed reconstruction of the sights and sounds of the late 70s and early 80s, all the attendant fashions and hairstyles, the hedonism, the uncertainties, a trip through time that never forgets about the people we have been watching, we learn what happens to all of them, and some fare much better than others. Wahlberg is terrific in the lead role, looking like a porn star, exposing himself physically and emotionally, in a performance that crosses a lot of territory, from energetic young stud to fatigued has-been and hopeless drug addict. Whether his penis is really as large as what he shows at the end is beyond me, but the fact that he does reveal it is daring, as most male celebrities shy away from graphic nudity, which is hardly ever required of them, or certainly not as much as with women. Reynolds, however, is the revelation, he should have won the Oscar, but he lost to Robin Williams. This is arguably Reynolds's best work. Ever. It could have revived his career, which had been in a relative slump, and like Horner, he was seen as a relic, a fading sex symbol. The large supporting cast is wonderful, as well, especially Reilly, Macy, and Moore. The only film that goes behind the scenes of the porn industry, to show its politics and economics, in great depth and detail. That makes it fascinating and intriguing. email this review to a friend
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