Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film "Boogie Nights" is a breathtaking ride through seven years in the pornographic film industry. This was a huge undertaking for this filmmaker's sophomore foray into picture making, but as seen with his prior effort, "Hard Eight", he has a knack for garnering career-making performances from his actors and for interweaving story lines on par with Robert Altman. He seems also to have no qualms with wearing his influences on his sleeve, as is clear by the often spoken about three minute long opening shot that hearkens back to Scorsese or DePalma.
The film follows the journey of a young man, played by the previously under-appreciated Mark Wahlberg, who yearns for a life beyond his Southern California suburban nowhere. Once he meets up with Burt Reynolds, in the finest performance of his career, and his pseudo-family of skin flick makers and performers, the story is just getting revved up. What follows are two and half hours that wiz by with the deft hand of a filmmaker so attuned to the needs of their story that the frequent subplots and meanderings only add texture and aesthetics to the piece. Though it is basically "42nd Street" with a porn twist, it's surprisingly subdued in its expression of on-screen sex, because the film is about so much more. Although their business is sex and pleasure, it is the variation on the family unit and the hopes and dreams of the characters that are really at the core.
Put simply this is brilliant film-making!
The film follows the journey of a young man, played by the previously under-appreciated Mark Wahlberg, who yearns for a life beyond his Southern California suburban nowhere. Once he meets up with Burt Reynolds, in the finest performance of his career, and his pseudo-family of skin flick makers and performers, the story is just getting revved up. What follows are two and half hours that wiz by with the deft hand of a filmmaker so attuned to the needs of their story that the frequent subplots and meanderings only add texture and aesthetics to the piece. Though it is basically "42nd Street" with a porn twist, it's surprisingly subdued in its expression of on-screen sex, because the film is about so much more. Although their business is sex and pleasure, it is the variation on the family unit and the hopes and dreams of the characters that are really at the core.
Put simply this is brilliant film-making!