Boogie Nights (1997)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson

Composer: Michael Penn

Starring: Luis Guzman, burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, Heather Graham, Mark Wahlberg, William H. Macy, Nina Hartley, Joanna Gleason, Ricky Jay, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip baker Hall, Thomas Jane, Alfred Molina

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Everyone has one special thing

Plot: Eddie Adams would have been just another high-school drop-out had he not met the likes of adult film director Jack Horner. Horner transforms Eddie into Dirk Diggler, a rising-star actor with a special gift. Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the film is a tribute to the decor, style, culture, and social attitudes of the era.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes

Geez, I haven't seen this in fifteen years.  What a great flick.  I'd forgotten how much it feels like the GOODFELLAS (1990) of the 70s porn scene. There are several moments that feel like that flick and it's great.  I remember two scenes that really had me on edge the first time around, the Dirk in the truck cutting back and forth with Rollergirl in the limo and the drug deal gone bad.  It was tense.  For the second watch they weren't as powerful even though I'd forgotten how each of the scenes concluded.  The cast is fantastic.  Wahlberg has rarely been better (from what I've seen) and what a knockout performance by Burt Reynolds.  He really had that porn director slick and sleazy look down pat.  It's too bad he didn't take advantage of all of the wonderful reviews he got and gave himself another comeback career.  He's a very good actor when the right material comes his way, he just doesn't pick 'em like he should.  Heather Graham...mmmmmmmmmm.  Scrummy.  I could go down the list but the entire cast is amazing.  I would sure love to buy casting director Christine Sheaks a drink.  Just based on this one film, she's fucking amazing in my book.  Wow.  But then there's writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, a man who has yet to make a bad picture.  I've seen all but his latest film and they're all so damn wonderful.  And for someone like me who was in their teens in the 80s, seeing a lot of 70s and 80s porn stars in small cameos in this picture is a real treat.