Boogie Nights
“You know, I'm gonna be a great big bright, shining star.“
When I first watched Boogie Nights a few months ago, I remember being absolutely blown away. Everything from the impeccable music choices, the incredible long tracking shots, the superb performances from one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled to the fantastically raw and hilarious screenplay annoy to mention the wonderfully written characters. Every single aspect of the movie just came together beautifully and perfectly to create something truly special.
Upon a rewatch, I am happy to say that Boogie Nights has lost none of its magic. It’s one of those movies that instantly from just the opening scene - which in this case is just one of the many impressively directed and acted tracking shots - I find myself completely immersed in. These tracking shots draw a lot of inspiration from the incredible work of Robert Altman, in films such as Nashville and The Player. Altman was a big inspiration to PTA, and the long takes in Boogie Nights work just as well as Altman’s use of such shots in his own films, transitioning seamlessly between different conversations.
When Jack introduces Eddie to the adult film industry, he is introduced to many people working on these films at the party, which almost seems like a kind of family reunion. He quickly becomes a part of this surrogate family, and those people are the heart and soul of the film. The ensemble cast of Boogie Nights is one of the best in my opinion. Mark Wahlberg gives his career best performance by a mile, Burt Reynolds is incredible as the film director, William H Macy is, even with his lack of screen time, as brilliant as ever, Julianne Morre is amazing, Don Cheadle as Buck is charismatic and funny, and Heather Graham is superb, and the list goes on. Alfred Molina appears for one scene and completely steals the show. The tension in that scene is built absolutely flawlessly. The long focus on the door closing behind the characters, the firecrackers going off at random intervals, making the characters jump, the music, everything is just so perfectly crafted to create one of the most suspenseful and effective scenes I’ve watched in recent memory.
Another thing I found really interesting on a second watch, are the similarities between this and Goodfellas. Both protagonists have an unpleasant family life, and seek success, purpose and most importantly belonging in a family that are both involved in unconventional professions. The two protagonists both find great success in their respective businesses, until a drug addiction, among other issues, ends up at least partially breaking up the family. The way they differ, however, is in their endings. By the end of the Goodfellas, the family’s time is over, whereas in Boogie Nights, their bond is strong enough to forgive one another, and bring everyone together again, and almost everyone gets the life they want. In a film filled to the brim with excellent music choices, the final montage, with God Only Knows playing in the background, never fails to make me smile. A perfect and wonderful ending for a perfect and wonderful film.
“You know, this is the film I want them to remember me by.”