DVD Reviews

Boogie Nights - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Jan 22, 2010, 14:09 GMT

From writer/director P.T. Anderson comes the turbulehnt behind-the-scenes story of an extended family of filmmakers who set out to revolutionize the adult entertainment industry in the seventies. Idealistic producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) has always dreamed of elevating his films into an art form. When he discovers young actor Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), Jack begins to turn his dreams into reality. Under the stage name of Dirk Diggler, Eddie soon ...more

The rise and fall of a star is not a tale that is new to cinema screens. Setting that erection (cough, cough) and subsequent deflation of a career within the porno industry is a new diggle though.

Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) was born to be a star. It’s not that he’s the greatest actor of his generation, but that his endowment arises from below his waist. He works at Maurice’s (Louis Guzman, character actor extraordinaire) nightclub and is introduced to porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), who senses something about the boy and has Rollergirl (Heather Graham) inspect the goods.

Horner gets told of Eddie’s talents and invites the lad to be in one of his films. Horner has a stable of actors including actors Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), Buck Swope (Don Cheadle), and Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), “Little” Bill (William H. Macy) is the assistant director and is married to a porn actress (Nina Hartley, who knows a thing or two about the business), and boom operator Scotty (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Eddie is rechristened Dirk Diggler and begins a series of porn/action films with Reed. He moves out of his troubled parent’s home and sets up Horner’s crew as his surrogate family. Times keep on changing and Horner is forced by producer Floyd Gondoli (Philip Baker Hall) to stop using film and switch to the cheaper videotape. Eddie’s career begins to skyrocket, but all things must come to an end.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s sophomore effort proves that the he is the master of the epic/multi-character arc film and successor to the crown of Robert Altman. What’s even more intriguing is that Anderson sets his tale in the porn industry of the late 70s and early 80s.

Odd to think that porn used to be shot on film and played in seedy theaters. Nowadays, naughtiness is only an internet search away. The mainstreaming of porn seems to stem from Behind the Green Door and I recollect talk of people in evening dress and more mainstream crowds venturing to see that movie (amusing thoughts of folks in tuxedos and minks sitting next to Raincoat Ronald).

As Burt Reynolds, in a fantastic career reviving performance (not that he wouldn’t squander it with more direct-to-video crap), pines about how the industry is becoming plastic and disposable instead of the “art” that he used to shoot. Reynolds is expertly cast, but the remainder of the cast is also filled with inspirational choices.

Reynolds, Julianne Moore, and the screenplay would be nominated for Academy Awards and Reynolds would win a Golden Globe for his role. Mark Wahlberg was basically an untested commodity at this point in his career, and the rubber penis might’ve been the star of the show, but he proves what an actor he is in this film and would lead to him being taken seriously as an actor.

Boogie Nights is a fabulous piece of cinema that is wrapped in the titillating cloak of a porno, but the results are more than a money shot but a dramatic and fascinating film. Anderson’s next film would be even more so.

Boogie Nights is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features include two commentaries. One is from director Paul Thomas Anderson and the second has Anderson joined by Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, and Heather Graham. The rest of the features are presented in standard definition.

They include the 15 minute “John C. Reilly Files” has the actor improvising, 30 minutes of deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Anderson, the 3 minute “Try” music video by Michael Penn (with optional commentary by Anderson as well), and the 2 minute theatrical trailer.

It may not have walked away with the Oscars it was nominated for, but Boogie Nights certainly deserved them. Burt Reynolds overcomes a stagnant career low to rise like a phoenix and is joined by a host of other fantastic performances.