Boogie Nights
3 Oscar Nominations
Rent/Purchase
In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality.
What critics thought
Paul Thomas Anderson's portrait of the San Fernando Valley porn industry landed as a genuine critical event — praised for its empathetic, nonjudgmental sweep, its ensemble of fully inhabited characters, and an audacious tonal range that moves from comedy to menace without losing its footing. Wahlberg and Reynolds drew near-universal admiration. The one persistent reservation, voiced even by enthusiastic critics, was that the film's ambitions outrun its final act, with some feeling the nearly two-and-a-half-hour length promised thematic depth the movie didn't quite deliver — and the audience reaction at the time was notably cooler than the critical one.
“the film's extravagant 2-hour 32-minute length amounts to a slight tactical mistake ... [it] has no trouble holding interest ... but the length promises larger ideas than the film finally delivers”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“Boogie Nights is the first great film about the 1970s to come out since the '70s ... It gets all the details right, nailing down the styles and the music. More impressive, it captures the decade's distinct, decadent glamour”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“The early rave reviews accorded this film suggest a significance that I, however, did not encounter. Show-biz stories are all pretty much the same: ambition, stardom, drugs, disillusionment.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“Boogie Nights has the quality of many great films, in that it always seems alive.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorPaul Thomas Anderson
StarringMark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham
ComposerMichael Penn
Boogie Nights
3 Oscar Nominations
In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality.
What critics thought
Paul Thomas Anderson's portrait of the San Fernando Valley porn industry landed as a genuine critical event — praised for its empathetic, nonjudgmental sweep, its ensemble of fully inhabited characters, and an audacious tonal range that moves from comedy to menace without losing its footing. Wahlberg and Reynolds drew near-universal admiration. The one persistent reservation, voiced even by enthusiastic critics, was that the film's ambitions outrun its final act, with some feeling the nearly two-and-a-half-hour length promised thematic depth the movie didn't quite deliver — and the audience reaction at the time was notably cooler than the critical one.
“the film's extravagant 2-hour 32-minute length amounts to a slight tactical mistake ... [it] has no trouble holding interest ... but the length promises larger ideas than the film finally delivers”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“Boogie Nights is the first great film about the 1970s to come out since the '70s ... It gets all the details right, nailing down the styles and the music. More impressive, it captures the decade's distinct, decadent glamour”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“The early rave reviews accorded this film suggest a significance that I, however, did not encounter. Show-biz stories are all pretty much the same: ambition, stardom, drugs, disillusionment.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“Boogie Nights has the quality of many great films, in that it always seems alive.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorPaul Thomas Anderson
StarringMark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham
ComposerMichael Penn
Rent/Purchase