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Paul Thomas Anderson's second film, Boogie Nights, was praised by critics and moviegoers alike, and rightly so. It is a well-written, well-acted, and well-directed movie about, at least partially, misfits and lost souls looking for a place to belong ñ a familiar theme in Anderson's work. Unfortunately, these interesting and wonderfully portrayed characters are lost in a world of porno movies, and it is this element of the film that keeps me from giving it my whole-hearted praise. As I am definitely not a fan of pornography, this film kinda makes me sick. I really, really liked Anderson's other films, Hard Eight and Magnolia, and although I liked Boogie Nights, I can't say I really, really liked it.

A bit like Magnolia, Boogie Nights is more of an ensemble film, though a few characters stand out more than others. Mark Wahlberg plays Eddie Adams, a young kid who wants to be a star and, with his unusually large male appendage, he finds a path to stardom via Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), a porno movie director. Eddie changes his name to Dirk Diggler, a perfect porn star moniker, and finds a home with the rest of the motley group of "actors" and film crew that seem to spend all of their time at Jack's party pad. Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), and Roller Girl (Heather Graham) are just some of these most fascinating characters. Of course, there is also Scotty J. (Philip Seymour Hoffman), crew member extraordinaire! Scotty first shows up onscreen arriving at a party at Jack's. He scans the crowd hanging around the pool, completely ignoring the bikini-clad girls, until he sees Dirk lounging poolside. That's it for Scotty, he's smitten!

Phil's performance as Scotty is perfect - so real, so brutally and embarrassingly honest. Truly everyone does a great job in this film. Burt Reynolds proves than he really can act; Julianne Moore is amazing, especially in her custody hearing scene; Mark Wahlberg impresses in his first big role (pun originally not intended); and most everyone else is fantastic in breathing reality into their roles. But Phil almost steals the show. The most talked about scene in the movie, when Scotty tries to kiss Dirk, is truly something to see. Scotty is so pathetic, but not to the point of being comical. He is bluntly real, a character in which some of us can see ourselves if we're honest, and he is difficult yet amazing to watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of only a very few actors I know that can carry off this kind of performance.

Much of this movie shows us the slimy underbelly of Porno World (it's all slimy, isn't it?). The audience looks on as Dirkís fame and fortune soar, then crash sadly but predictably under the influence of cocaine and other indulgences. Most of the characters have similar ups and downs and deal with their own failures and shortcomings. This was the best part of the movie for me, watching all of these very real, very human characters stumble through their sad, messed up lives. And we watch them through P. T. Andersonís skewed window on the world. While itís a well-made film, that unsettling view of this particular world can be a bit much to take for 2 to 3 hours. It's saving grace for me was the humor and the brilliant acting.

Donít get me wrong, Iím certainly no prude. But I donít like the way pornography degrades sex, exploits women, and caters to the ignorant, and this film gives the viewer a front row seat for all of it. If you can get past all of that, this is a good movie. On a scale of 5 stars, I give it 3 .

-- Martha

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This page last updated July 21, 2002