Boogie Nights Rating: 85/100

This movie, given its subject matter (the porn movie business) and style (multiple characters, slice of life) is one that a lot of people would not go see unless it is highly recommended from a friend. Also because of the length of the movie (45 minutes longer than your average feature presentation), and that it has some very hard hitting scenes, it requires from most movie-goers at least two viewings before it begins to rise up above the pack as a must-see. This reviewer sincerely hopes that you are willing to give this movie that kind of viewing, because it delivers so much, a lot of which is missed on the first viewing. It is a brilliantly directed and acted movie with rich dialog and character development that gives an almost voyeuristic feeling to the viewer, while at the same time immersing the viewer in the scenes as if you were an invited friend at a party.

The movie is allegedly a biography of the late John Holmes. Mark Wahlberg stars as a teenager living in the 70's with his obsessively manipulating mother and passive father. After meeting an icon in the porn movie business (Burt Reynolds), and a falling out with his mother, he decides to run away and become a porn actor (aka. Dirk Diggler). Given his natural gifts as an actor, he becomes a star and we follow him through the world as it unfolds around him. Along the way we meet a host of different characters, each with their own charm and problems. We meet the vivacious yet somewhat troubled Rollergirl (Heather Graham), the aging star in Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), a film crew member love smitten with Dirk (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a host of other vivid characters, all of whom provide a glimpse at the 70's and early 80's, as well as the business itself. The world is rather surreal, but as the movie progresses we get a chance to see each character's fears, hopes, desires, successes and failures (for instance, Don Cheadle's "Buck" struggling with the ramifications of his profession as he tries to perform simple tasks like getting a loan at the bank).

Burt Reynolds makes the movie flow, because his character is connected to all of the others. William H. Macy is phenomenal (as usual), John C. Reilly is a scene stealer and there really is not a bad performance in the film. Even the smaller parts are memorable, especially the scene with Alfred Molina and the soon to be famous Thomas Jane (played The Punisher and Mickey mantl in 61*). The director, Paul Thomas Anderson took some chances with this style, given the number of characters that he needed to develop for us through the movie. The movie brings each story to a climax (metaphorically speaking), in a way that ties each of them together in a loose random connection. Just as Anderson's other work, Magnolia, gives you the feeling of universal connectivity, this one gives you that feeling of collective loneliness. Since this style of movie has become more popular, we have seen other directors fail to bring multiple characters and storylines together at one climactic point (recall the most recent failure of the ending scenes from Requiem for a Dream). This one succeeds brilliantly and provides the much needed closure.

Extra features are loaded into this DVD (in fact this set is a two-DVD set). Included are many cut scenes and "let's keep the camera rolling to see if anything else happens" additions to current scenes. There is much more footage from the mini movie that Amber Waves created for Dirk, with some very funny lines. There is a montage of many takes from one cut scene that include Michael Penn (who was the studio engineer, for You Got the Touch). They put this together for his birthday. There is the standard director's commentary that reveal some very interesting directorial mistakes and bad decisions. There is an entire 6 minute scene that changes the tone to a violent ending for one of the characters and really changes the entire tone of the movie. There is also an "Easter Egg" in this one, if you go to the section that says "Sound & Color Test", you will see the familiar testing bars for about 10 seconds, then the bars will go away and you will see some "equipment" screen tests, very funny.

Overall, if you haven't seen the movie, it is worth a rental (plan to watch it twice), and if you have seen the movie more than once, this is a must buy.

Brian Murphy