Boogie Nights (1997)

The story of a young man's adventures in the Californian pornography industry of the 1970s and 1980s.

Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars:

Luis Guzmán, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luis Guzmán	...	Maurice TT Rodriguez (as Luis Guzman)
Burt Reynolds	...	Jack Horner
Julianne Moore	...	Amber Waves
Rico Bueno	...	Hot Traxx Waiter
John C. Reilly	...	Reed Rothchild
Nicole Ari Parker	...	Becky Barnett
Don Cheadle	...	Buck Swope
Heather Graham	...	Rollergirl
Mark Wahlberg	...	Eddie Adams / Dirk Diggler
William H. Macy	...	Little Bill
Samson Barkhordarian	...	Hot Traxx Chef
Nina Hartley	...	Little Bill's Wife
Brad Braeden	...	Big Stud
Joanna Gleason	...	Dirk's Mother
Lawrence Hudd	...	Dirk's Father

Storyline

Eddie Adams would have been just another high-school drop-out had he not met the likes of adult film director Rick 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.

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Plot Keywords:

1970s | 1980s | actor | porn industry | drugs | 

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Taglines:

The life of a dreamer, the days of a business, and the nights in between.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sex scenes with explicit dialogue, nudity, drug use, language and violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pushing Thirteen

Filming Locations:

Gourmet Video, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

DEM 265,943 (Germany) (5 June 1998)

Gross:

DEM 265,943 (Germany) (5 June 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Lawrence Gordon Productions, Ghoulardi Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

155 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Throughout his career Burt Reynolds has made a number of movies that examine movie-making and this film is one of them. The pictures include Fade-In (location filming & westerns); Silent Movie and Nickelodeon (silent films); Best Friends (scriptwriting & Hollywood); Hooper (stuntwork and Hollywood); The Player (Hollywood); Boogie Nights (adult films); The Last Producer (producers and Hollywood); The Hollywood Sign and A Bunch of Amateurs (actors and Hollywood).

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Goofs

At Rahad's house where the three guys are discussing a drug deal with him (the scene is meant to be set in at least 1984, based on the songs "Sister Christian" and "99 Luftballons" from that year)), the audio mix tape as it runs out the moment the song currently playing reaches its climax (before reverse side playback) - in close-shot reveals that it is a Maxell 'clear style' tape - not an 80's style for this brand (although it may be possible Maxell did release a transparent all-tape style in the late 1980's). This particular tape is clearly 1990's style, and Maxell didn't introduce this type of shell until early that decade, way after 1984.

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Quotes

Jack Horner: You know this is the film I want them to remember me by.

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Crazy Credits

Towards the end of the credits, Mark Wahlberg's character speaks.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse/The Last Airbender/Grown Ups (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Fooled Around and Fell in Love"
(1973)
Written by Elvin Bishop
Performed by Elvin Bishop
Courtesy of Polydor Records
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Brilliant, Bold, Powerful!

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has created a fascinating account of a family of pornographers in the late 1970s. It is a frank, compelling, and disturbing vignette of unforgettable characters. Mark Whalberg (in his best performance to date) plays a well-endowed 17 year old who begins working in the porn industry under porn director Burt Reynolds (in an Oscar nominated performance). John C. Reilly plays a fellow porn star, Julianne Moore (never better) as a famous porn queen, Philip Seymour Hoffman as a timid homosexual porn crew member, William H. Macy as a fatalistic loser who's wife is always cheating on him, and Heather Graham (Reynolds daughter) as a rising porn star. Everybody does a fine job. The best scenes belong to former porn star couple Don Cheadle and Nicole Parker who add some of the comic relief to the film. What's intriguing is the way the actors interact with each other and the way they struggle to find their self-identity, plus a bravura script, colorful and startling cinematography, and a rousing rocking 70s soundtrack that make Boogie Nights one of the best films of 1997. It is a touching, humorous, and shocking film bursting with originality with an overall message of: redemption and forgiveness.