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As soon as I signed the contract to join Movieforums, I also signed a fine print saying I'll have to watch all the Paul Thomas Anderson movies. So far, I've done a crap job living up to that. So I'm gonna get through the rest of his stuff because, frankly, I'm kinda done wondering about his movies in place of other projects and lists challenges. So I might as well get through the one I put off for a long time due to the subject matter: Boogie Nights.
In Anderson's early hit, Mark Wahlberg plays a young 70's nightclub worker who's hired by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), an idealistic and artistic porn filmmaker who turns him into a superstar under the name "Dirk Diggler." But as the 80's come around and new stars are coming in, the drugged-up porn star is fired and struggles with career pursuits afterwards. On top of which, as his fellow stars pursue other ambitions, their time in the porn industry comes to haunt them.
I have this to say first: the direction is flawless. Paul Thomas Anderson barely had any real practice by that point, and the direction is absolutely genius. Every motion captures the whole of the experience in a way that makes you really feel like you're in the late-70's. This works in tandem with the sets. They're so freaking 70's they're gorgeous, and I'm not talking about parodies of 70's culture here. These sets feel like the kinds of places you might've seen in documentaries. I may not be a porn guy by any damn definition, but this movie owns the time period, and I am HUGE on 70's culture. I mean, there were times where I just wanted to dance with everybody, especially since I prefer 70's music to any other decade.
Everyone in this cast is a great choice for their roles. Wahlberg's early acting effort doesn't feel like a challenging role when you get down to cases, but he gradually owns it more as the role goes on, especially when the Bruce Lee fan comes out. And his screentime with John C. Reilly as his fellow star is maximized due to Reilly's hyperactive and comedic nature. Really, these people need to be themselves. And come on: BURT REYNOLDS. Has he ever underperformed in a movie? I really don't think he has. Maybe no one expected him to take Smokey and bring that energy to a porn director: but he did, and the results were flawless.
But I really can't get behind the idea that this is one of PTA's best movies. I mean, it has an incredible amount of high highs, but there's one major low that I need to get behind: DIRK IS A TOTALLY STANDARD PROTAG. Literally the only thing that separates him from other protags is how healthy and big his junk is. Small-time guy gets huge (no puns intended), he gets into drugs, gets too big for his britches (still no pun intended) and that's when his downfall starts, gets in trouble, gets his life back together. Ugh. On top of which, as far as characterization goes, I'm not getting enough Don Cheadle, Heather Graham or William H. Macy. I especially dislike how they handled Macy's characters. I might've enjoyed their acting more had they been given more to work with. This could've ended up like a Nashville-style film capturing the whole scene, but it was more interested in telling a few imbalanced stories, which are all effective, but imbalanced.
I didn't get the masterpiece I was expecting from all of the reviews, but I'm not gonna say it greatly disappointed. Outweighing its biggest flaw, Boogie Nights has a keen spirit and flair for theatrics that unfortunately gives this "almost porn" film a lot of rewatch value. I don't think I'll be partaking in that, but I'm not gonna deny that I find this movie better than Punch-Drunk Love. Anderson obviously had a passion for the time period and let it blast out like soda in a cheesy commercial, although the story balance was more well-handled by the fast-paced Inherent Vice for crying out loud. It's no Magnolia, but if a movie this good is one of Anderson's worst, major kudos.
= 91
Paul Thomas Anderson's Directorial Score (5 Good vs. 0 Bad)
Magnolia: 100
Inherent Vice: 100
There Will Be Blood: 97
Boogie Nights: 91
Punch-Drunk Love: 89
Anderson's position on my Best Directors List lowers from #30 to #37 between Wes Craven and Ron Howard.
Boogie Nights
(1997) - Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
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Drama / Black Comedy / Showbiz
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Drama / Black Comedy / Showbiz
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"I'm looking forward to seeing you in action."
As soon as I signed the contract to join Movieforums, I also signed a fine print saying I'll have to watch all the Paul Thomas Anderson movies. So far, I've done a crap job living up to that. So I'm gonna get through the rest of his stuff because, frankly, I'm kinda done wondering about his movies in place of other projects and lists challenges. So I might as well get through the one I put off for a long time due to the subject matter: Boogie Nights.
In Anderson's early hit, Mark Wahlberg plays a young 70's nightclub worker who's hired by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), an idealistic and artistic porn filmmaker who turns him into a superstar under the name "Dirk Diggler." But as the 80's come around and new stars are coming in, the drugged-up porn star is fired and struggles with career pursuits afterwards. On top of which, as his fellow stars pursue other ambitions, their time in the porn industry comes to haunt them.
I have this to say first: the direction is flawless. Paul Thomas Anderson barely had any real practice by that point, and the direction is absolutely genius. Every motion captures the whole of the experience in a way that makes you really feel like you're in the late-70's. This works in tandem with the sets. They're so freaking 70's they're gorgeous, and I'm not talking about parodies of 70's culture here. These sets feel like the kinds of places you might've seen in documentaries. I may not be a porn guy by any damn definition, but this movie owns the time period, and I am HUGE on 70's culture. I mean, there were times where I just wanted to dance with everybody, especially since I prefer 70's music to any other decade.
Everyone in this cast is a great choice for their roles. Wahlberg's early acting effort doesn't feel like a challenging role when you get down to cases, but he gradually owns it more as the role goes on, especially when the Bruce Lee fan comes out. And his screentime with John C. Reilly as his fellow star is maximized due to Reilly's hyperactive and comedic nature. Really, these people need to be themselves. And come on: BURT REYNOLDS. Has he ever underperformed in a movie? I really don't think he has. Maybe no one expected him to take Smokey and bring that energy to a porn director: but he did, and the results were flawless.
But I really can't get behind the idea that this is one of PTA's best movies. I mean, it has an incredible amount of high highs, but there's one major low that I need to get behind: DIRK IS A TOTALLY STANDARD PROTAG. Literally the only thing that separates him from other protags is how healthy and big his junk is. Small-time guy gets huge (no puns intended), he gets into drugs, gets too big for his britches (still no pun intended) and that's when his downfall starts, gets in trouble, gets his life back together. Ugh. On top of which, as far as characterization goes, I'm not getting enough Don Cheadle, Heather Graham or William H. Macy. I especially dislike how they handled Macy's characters. I might've enjoyed their acting more had they been given more to work with. This could've ended up like a Nashville-style film capturing the whole scene, but it was more interested in telling a few imbalanced stories, which are all effective, but imbalanced.
I didn't get the masterpiece I was expecting from all of the reviews, but I'm not gonna say it greatly disappointed. Outweighing its biggest flaw, Boogie Nights has a keen spirit and flair for theatrics that unfortunately gives this "almost porn" film a lot of rewatch value. I don't think I'll be partaking in that, but I'm not gonna deny that I find this movie better than Punch-Drunk Love. Anderson obviously had a passion for the time period and let it blast out like soda in a cheesy commercial, although the story balance was more well-handled by the fast-paced Inherent Vice for crying out loud. It's no Magnolia, but if a movie this good is one of Anderson's worst, major kudos.
= 91
Paul Thomas Anderson's Directorial Score (5 Good vs. 0 Bad)
Magnolia: 100
Inherent Vice: 100
There Will Be Blood: 97
Boogie Nights: 91
Punch-Drunk Love: 89
Anderson's position on my Best Directors List lowers from #30 to #37 between Wes Craven and Ron Howard.