Boogie Nights
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| Starring | Mark Wahlberg Burt Reynolds Julianne Moore John C. Reilly Don Cheadle Heather Graham Philip Seymour Hoffman Melora Walters Nicole Ari Parker William H. Macy | |
| Directed by | Paul Thomas Anderson | |
| Produced by | Paul Thomas Anderson Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin | |
| Written by | Paul Thomas Anderson | |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema | |
| Released | October 10, 1997 | |
| Runtime | 156 min. | |
| Country | USA 
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| language | English | |
| Budget | $15,000,000 (estimated) | |
| AMG Info | All Movie Guide | |
| IMDB Info | 0118749 on IMDb | |
Boogie Nights is a 1997 film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly and Heather Graham.
The film follows a young porn star as he enters the industry in the late 1970s in California, and deals with the highs and lows of success into the 1980s. It also follows several other characters involved in the industry, and their downfalls.
Plot
The film depicts the pornographic film industry of the late 1970s and early 1980s as seen through the life of a young porn star, Dirk Diggler, played by Mark Wahlberg. This film details his discovery by porn director Jack Horner (based on William Margold), played by Burt Reynolds. The story concerns Diggler's entry into the business, his rise to stardom, and his eventual downfall due to cocaine and methamphetamine-induced paranoia and impotence, having become an arrogant "star". It ends with his reconciliation with Horner.
Dirk Diggler's rise and fall serves as a way to explore a number of characters and the fashions and foibles of the late 1970s and early 1980s. All the characters experience a variety of highs and lows as the plot intertwines the stories of the characters Jack, Amber, Buck, Rollergirl, and Dirk.
Jack discovers a young Eddie Adams working in a nightclub and shortly after recruits him into the industry. Eddie adopts the moniker "Dirk Diggler" and quickly becomes an Pornographic film celebrity, winning several Pornographic film awards and spending his earnings on clothes, shoes, a new apartment, and his most prized possession, a "competition orange" Corvette.
In a lengthy sequence, the film moves from one character to another, showing their attempts and failures to make lives for themselves after they have left the Pornographic film industry. Jack's efforts to continue his porno empire flounder after his main source of funding, Colonel James, is imprisoned for pedophilia. His new source of funding insists upon shooting on lower-cost videotape and using amateur actors. Jack dislikes the videotape format and films that are now being produced without script, character development, or direction. Jack tries to revitalize his career by employing Rollergirl to ride around with him in a limousine enticing random strangers to have sex with her on film. The ploy goes very badly when the man they choose at random knows Rollergirl from high school and insults her. She and Jack beat him severely and leave him bleeding on the street.
Jack's assistant, Little Bill (William H. Macy) is married to another porn star (played by real-life porn queen Nina Hartley) who constantly humiliates him by having sex with other men in public. He catches her cheating on him at a New Years Eve party, goes to his car and retrieves a revolver and shoots both of them and then himself in front of the party crowd.
Amber (Julianne Moore) finds herself in a nasty custody battle with her former husband over their child. Because of her essentially innocent nature, she is stunned when the court determines that she is unfit to be a mother due to her involvement in the porn industry, her past criminal record and her addiction to cocaine.
Buck Swope (Don Cheadle) marries another porn star, Jessie St. Vincent (Melora Walters), who, shortly thereafter, becomes pregnant. After being denied a bank loan to open a stereo store, Buck stops at a donut shop that is in the process of being robbed. In a strange twist of fate, the clerk, thief, and a gun-wielding customer who tries to stop the robbery, all end up killing each other. Buck escapes with the money the thief would otherwise have stolen. He uses the money to open a stereo store.
Dirk (Mark Wahlberg) becomes addicted to cocaine and methamphetamine, and has a violent falling out with Jack (Burt Reynolds) during a film shoot. He and Reed (John C. Reilly) leave to pursue their dream of forming an early-'80s rock band; however, due to their enormous cocaine addiction, they are unable to pay for their studio recording time. Dirk tries to prostitute himself but is assaulted by a gang of thugs. Dirk and Reed, along with their mutual friend, Todd (Thomas Jane), attempt to scam an associate, Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina), into purchasing a half-kilogram of baking soda, which they claim is cocaine. During the deal, Todd attempts a much larger robbery and is killed during the ensuing gunfight. (The incident is loosely based on the real life Wonderland Murders.) Dirk and Reed barely escape the house alive. Not long after, Dirk returns to Jack's house and the two reconcile. Dirk re-enters the adult industry and most of the characters appear to be living in Jack's house, their version of a family.
Background
The idea of Boogie Nights was developed after Paul Thomas Anderson made the short mockumentary The Dirk Diggler Story on home video in 1988. The project was inspired by Anderson's infatuation with the absurdities of pornography and behind-the-scenes stories of porn stars. In particular, The Dirk Diggler Story was influenced by a documentary called Exhausted that featured John Holmes as its subject. The documentary was directed by Julia St. Vincent and Anderson describes it as a "love letter" to Holmes, (the documentary itself goes as far as to label Holmes as a "love god"). Both the documentary and Holmes had large impacts on the Boogie Nights characters Dirk Diggler and Amber Waves.
After Anderson had completed the dismal experience of writing and directing his first feature film Sydney (renamed Hard Eight by the studio) he went to work writing Boogie Nights with The Dirk Diggler Story as a starting point. The script eventually became a gargantuan, 185 page story that featured many interweaving character plots about individuals in the pornography industry, almost all of them being inspired by real life accounts that Anderson had researched over the years. Anderson was very frank with studio executives when he pitched the film around Hollywood, stating up front that it would be three hours long and rated NC-17 due to its subject matter. Although he knew that this would alienate the vast majority of executives to whom he tried to sell the project, Anderson did so in order to limit the potential intervention that had resulted in Sydney being taken away from him by the studio.
Nevertheless, Mike De Luca at New Line Cinema supported Anderson and the script entirely. New Line green-lighted the script, assuming that the nostalgic 1970s setting and outstanding soundtrack would be enough to market the picture. The only conditions were that the film not go over its low $15 million budget and that it ensure an R rating from the MPAA. Both conditions were implemented to see that the film would make a profit for New Line, and Anderson acquiesced to the rating change.
Rather than playing it safe and trying to please other people, as was the case with Hard Eight, Anderson shot every scene of the script and was unwilling to cut much out of the film. His stubborn attitude towards studio executives only worsened when the film was first screened for test audiences. Many people were expecting a light, nostalgic 1970s comedy about pornography and were instead shown a long, drawn-out, dark and complicated drama. Support of the project began to wane until critics saw the film and began showering it with praise. In its eventual theater release, it made a modest $26 million (a larger profit was made by its video release). By the end of 2006, the film had grossed $43,101,594 internationally, $26,400,640 in the USA and $16,700,954 overseas. The film's critical success kept Anderson at New Line for his next film, Magnolia.
Main characters
Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg)-Born Eddie Adams, Dirk is a handsome but dimwitted high school dropout with a 13-inch penis who is recruited into the porn industry by director Jack Horner. He changes his name to Dirk Diggler and becomes an instant success in the porn world. In the 1980s he becomes addicted to cocaine and after a dispute with Jack, leaves his studio. Dirk is the central character in the story and the one who has the greatest effect on all the other characters. Dirk's character is largely inspired by the life of the priapic porn king, John Holmes (who is referenced briefly in the film). Aspects of actor Mike Ranger's life were also thrown in the mix (i.e. his affair with and older actress).
Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds)-A successful director of pornographic films. He meets Eddie Adams in a nightclub in Reseda, California, and convinces him to consider a career in adult cinema. He's a wise and kind fatherly figure who has formed close, caring relationships with many of his regular cast and crew. His dream is to direct films that are not simply sexy, but have stories that grip the audience even after they've climaxed. His chance to make such a film ultimately comes along with the first "Brock Landers" film. The Jack Horner character has been attributed to an amalgam of porn moguls such as William Margold, Bob Chinn, and Bill Amerson.
Amber Waves (Julianne Moore)-The star female actress in Jack Horner's stable of porn stars. She's a cocaine addict and also has serious emotional issues which constitute the primary reasons she's lost the custody of her son to her ex-husband. Amber's son is never seen in the movie and the closest he comes to her is an unsuccessful attempt to call her. She falls in love with Dirk soon after meeting him and essentially takes him on as a new son. Her care is not always beneficial, however, and she introduces Dirk to cocaine and he becomes addicted. Amber's real name is Maggie. Much of the inspiration for this character was from Julia St. Vincent, girlfriend of John Holmes. However, Julia was never a porn starlet. Veronica Hart also is listed an inspiration by Anderson in the commentary and appears as the judge in the child-custody hearing
Rollergirl (Heather Graham)-An attractive, frequent talent of Jack's films who never takes off her roller skates. Though she is in high school at the beginning of her pornography career, she, like Dirk, drops out of school and Jack takes care of her. She is "adopted" by Amber as a daughter after Dirk leaves Jack's studio to pursue other interests. Rollergirl's real name is Brandy.
Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly)-A veteran of the industry, Reed becomes Dirk's best friend. Reed is egocentric and tries to appear more knowledgeable and multi-talented than he actually is. He and Dirk create and star in their own porno series in the late 70s, get hooked on cocaine, and leave Jack's studio simultaneously. Reed's one true aspiration outside of porn is to be a magician, which he apparently accomplishes by the film's end.
Buck Swope (Don Cheadle)-A part-time stereo salesman and porn star. Buck relentlessly tries to find a fashion style that suits him, and ends up showcasing some of the wilder forms of dress of the 1970s and 1980s. He marries fellow porn star Jessie St. Vincent and she soon becomes pregnant. During the 80s, Buck tries to open his own stereo store, but his loan application is turned down by the bank because of his ties to pornography. He later opens the store, after getting the money from the robbery of a donut shop he happened to be in. By a strange contingency, the robber, the clerk, and the customer who killed the robber all ended up dead, allowing him to leave with the money.
Scotty J. (Philip Seymour Hoffman)-A shy and nervous homosexual member of Jack's filming crew. Scotty J. works menial positions behind the camera, mostly as Boom operator. He falls in love with Dirk the first time he sees him. Scotty idolizes and emulates Dirk and at one point during a drunken stupor even tries to kiss him, but is rejected. However, along with Reed, Scotty follows and supports Dirk even after his falling out with Jack.
Little Bill (William H. Macy)-Jack's meek assistant director. Little Bill has very little self-esteem due to his timid nature and his porn star wife (played by real life porn starlet Nina Hartley), who spends most of her time publicly (and privately) having intercourse with various other men. On New Year's Eve 1979, during Jack's party, Little Bill's tolerance for his wife's infidelity runs out and he shoots her, the man she is sleeping with, and finally himself. Little Bill's death is the turning point in the movie, when things turn from good to bad for all the characters involved.
Jessie St. Vincent (Melora Walters)-A female porn star who joins Jack's crew after Dirk becomes famous. She and Buck Swope discover a mutual love of sunrises, and fall in love. The name of this character is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Julia St. Vincent, whose biography of John Holmes, "Exhausted" provided inspiration for some of the actual scenes used in the documentary sequence of Boogie Nights.
Becky Barnett (Nicole Ari Parker)-A black porn star featured in many of Jack's films. She tries to find love and companionship within the industry but fails time and again until finally marrying early in the 1980s to a regional manager at Pep Boys she meets at Jack's New Year's Eve party.
The Colonel James (Robert Ridgely)-The aging, opulent financier of Jack's films. He is seen frequently with young, petite women and is eventually arrested in the '80s for his child pornography collection which had been discovered during the investigation of an undisclosed crime involving one or more underage girls. This effectively cuts off the supply of funds for Jack Horner's films. He is shown at the end of the film imprisoned being assaulted by a fellow inmate.
Floyd Gondolli (Philip Baker Hall)-A rising producer of the industry. Prior to The Colonel's arrest he tries to convince Jack to start shooting his movies on videotape with unknown actors to cut costs, but Jack refuses. After the Colonel's arrest, Jack has nobody to go to for funding except Floyd, and Floyd will only fund video projects. As a result, Jack is forced into shooting his movies with video.
Todd Parker (Thomas Jane)-A close friend of Reed's. He's a stripper at a nightclub called Party Boys, but also supplies cocaine for Reed and Dirk. In a drug deal gone bad near the end of the film, Parker is shot and killed by Rahad Jackson. The character shares many connections with Paul Snider.
Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina)-An eccentric drug dealer who spends most of his time listening to mix tapes and smoking crack cocaine. He lives in an affluent part of town and will buy drugs from anyone. Todd, Reed, and Dirk try to sell him fake cocaine with disastrous results. This character is based on real-life gangster Eddie Nash, even down to his trademark line, "You guys wanna play baseball?".
Maurice T.T. Rodriguez (Luis Guzman)-Owner of the nightclub where Dirk initially worked as a busboy and where Jack and his stable of porn actors and crew members hang out. He is also a wanna-be famous Latino porn star, spending a great deal of the time trying to persuade the other characters in allowing him a chance to appear in one of Jack's films.
Deleted Scene
One major sequence was removed prior to the theatrical release of the film. The sequence focuses on the character Becky and her plight during the 1980s (as with the rest of the characters). In the first cut of the film, it follows the scene of Jack in his office cutting a Johnny Doe video and before Amber attempts to arrange the custody of her son.
In the sequence, Becky is being physically abused by her new husband after he becomes increasingly disapproving of her past career in porn. The scene begins with Reed excitedly telling Dirk that Johnny Doe (the younger up-and-comer that Jack hires) has recently died in a car crash. In the original script, Johnny Doe was shown crashing his car into another vehicle driven by Dirk Diggler's parents, with all three being killed. Becky, who is beaten up and frantic while hiding in a locked room, calls for help from Dirk, who is high on cocaine. They arrange to meet. Becky's husband eventually breaks through the door and punches Becky. When he turns his back to walk away, Becky strikes him repeatedly with a frying pan before running out of the house.
Meanwhile, Dirk, who is still sniffing coke while driving to meet Becky, crashes his Corvette into a telephone pole. Upset at ruining his car, Dirk turns around and drives back home; throwing a fit and forgetting about Becky entirely while she waits for him at a restaurant.
Like most of the stories in the film, Anderson was inspired by many similar real-life occurrences. "It turns sour, it turns into this really violent relationship -- which I've heard about a million times in porno where it's the guy meets the girl who's in porno. And he's real turned on and 'wow, baby, that's so fucking hot' and 'my girlfriend's a porno actress' but then two weeks later it's: 'you're a fucking whore, how could you do that?' and he's beating her, you know. And that's a story you hear pretty often, over and over again."
Anderson gives many reasons why this sequence was cut on the DVD commentary for the film: "We had a lot of porno and we had a lot of violence already in the movie and I don't know how much more we needed... We cut it from the movie and I'm glad we did, but it sure is fun to watch it." In addition, while seeing the movie many times over, Anderson was always excited by the courtroom scene with Amber. Eventually, he determined that this was because the Becky sequence was getting in the way of the more prominent characters.
In the end, Anderson decided that Becky would leave the story with a happy ending rather than another example of tumbling fate that follows with the rest of the characters in the 1980s.
Soundtrack
Two soundtracks of the film were released; the first in 1997 and the second in 1998. Though the two albums encompass nearly every major song featured in the film; songs omitted are Nena's "99 Luftballoons" (the opening of which is featured as the conclusion to the Rahad Jackson sequence), Andrew Gold's "Lonely Boy", and "The Sage" (the cello piece heard at Jack Horner's home) by Chico Hamilton.
Awards
The film was nominated for 3 Oscars. Burt Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a porn film director. Julianne Moore also received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as maternal porn star, Amber Waves. Paul Thomas Anderson was nominated for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay. The film won no academy awards, but Reynolds did win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.
Trivia
- The "cocaine" the actors are snorting is, in actuality, lactose and fructose.
- The night club scenes were filmed at The Country Club located in Reseda, California.
- The father of Amber's child is portrayed by John Doe of the punk band X. This band was at the height of its popularity during the time frame covered in Boogie Nights, and its name coincides with the MPAA rating of Jack Horner's movies. There is also a minor character in the film with the name "Johnny Doe".
- The character Buck Swope talks about "the TK-421 special modification" while trying to sell a stereo. This is a reference to the name of the Imperial Stormtrooper with the bad transmitter in Star Wars. (Star Wars is more directly referenced later in the film in a conversation between Dirk and Reed).
- Leonardo DiCaprio was Anderson's first choice to play Dirk Diggler, but DiCaprio chose instead to star in James Cameron's Titanic. After watching The Basketball Diaries, Anderson opted to use Mark Wahlberg in the role. DiCaprio stated in 2004 that he wishes he'd chosen Boogie Nights instead.
- Samuel L. Jackson (who had worked with Anderson previously in Hard Eight) was Anderson's first choice to play the role of Buck Swope. However, according to Anderson, Jackson said he "didn't get it." Don Cheadle was cast instead. Among the actors circling around the Jack Horner role were Warren Beatty and Sydney Pollack, who both turned the film down. Upon seeing the film at its premiere, Pollack regretted turning down the part and cited that he didn't understand it when he read the script, until he saw the finished film.
- The events in the film take place between 1977 and 1984.
- A much talked-about scene occurs at the end of the film when Dirk Diggler reveals his huge, flaccid penis while speaking to himself in the mirror. For years afterward, star Mark Wahlberg has been asked if that is his actual penis. It is a prosthetic.
- The song "The Touch" sung by Mark Wahlberg's character when he tries to become a singing star was originally created for the 1986 Transformers movie. It was performed by Stan Bush. When Transformers: The Movie was released on DVD there is even mention of this in an interview with the film's composer, Vince DiCola; where he states he was very surprised that it was used in another movie. He even called Stan Bush to let him know about it.
- The opening scene is nearly three minutes long without a cut, and shows most of the characters in the film, ending with a shot of young Eddie Adams (the future Dirk Diggler). At the end of the movie, there is a similar long scene without a cut showing most of the characters, right before the last scene with Dirk in his dressing room. Another long, single take sequence that fleshes out many characters takes place during the first party upon Eddie's arrival to porn as the future Dirk Diggler. The moment where the camera pulls into the pool was inspired by the film I Am Cuba.
- Jon Brion plays the nonspeaking role of a mustachioed guitarist at the first Pornographic film award show. In an extended sequence of the second award show (that can be found on the DVD), Brion appears with the same band, himself appearing clean shaven and wearing a tuxedo. After appearing in Boogie Nights, Brion scored Paul Thomas Anderson's next two films: Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love.
- Both the firecrackers during the Rahad Jackson scene and Buck Swope's name are references to the 1969 Robert Downey Sr. film Putney Swope, one of P.T. Anderson's favorite films. Robert Downey Sr. even appears in the film as the recording studio manager, and is singled out as "a prince" in the end credits.
- There is an image of Elliott Gould that appears three times in the film (one of them is on the wall of the porno set during Maurice's big scene).
- On the DVD, there is an option to view color bars. Doing so reveals an Easter egg. The color bars fade after a few seconds and reveal a gag take of Bob Ridgley presenting an award as the Colonel James and test footage of Mark Wahlberg wearing the prosthetic penis.
- A number of actual porn stars have roles in the film, including Nina Hartley, Veronica Hart, Little Cinderella, Summer Cummings, Skye Blue and Tony Tedeschi.
- Ron Jeremy was a consultant for the movie (revealed this in interview on 2/13/07 KISSFM Milwaukee).
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