Customer Reviews

Boogie Nights

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paul Thomas Anderson's "BOOGIE NIGHTS" is a sprawling masterpiece concerning many things. The subjects range from the 70s porn industry, to the journey from late teens to early manhood, from drugs to celebrity, from family to friendship. It's about lost souls in search of solace and young disenfranchized in search of a home. Mark Wahlberg (yes, Markey Mark) stars as Eddie Adams, the Torrance youth with a 13-inch...TALENT...who runs from his mother's house and into the arms of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds in his Oscar-nominated--and robbed--performance), the finest director in the porn industry in 1977 California. What Eddie finds at Jack's fine home in the San Fernando Valley is an oasis on the outskirts of the real world, a wonderland of new experiences and hope-filled dreams, where celebrity is literally around the corner. He also finds a surrogate family of new friends: there's Buck (Don Cheadle) and Becky Barnett (Nicole Ari Parker), the resident black couple, and Buck's destined wife Jessie St. Vincent (Melora Walters of "HARD EIGHT" and "MAGNOLIA"). There's Scotty J (Philip Seymour Hoffman, fresh off Anderson's debut feature, "HARD EIGHT", later in both "MAGNOLIA" and as the villain in Anderson's 4th feature "PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE"), the enthralled young guy who "helps on some of the films" and Kurt Longjohn (Ricky Jay), the cameraman who "wants to give each picture its own look". There's Rollergirl (Heather Graham), who "never takes her skates off...NEVER". There's Little Bill (William H. Macy), the depressed AD whose wife (real porn star Nina Hartley) abuses him in public, and has sex with everyone around. There's The Colonel (the late Robert Ridgely; he had a bit part in "HARD EIGHT") who finances the films. There's Floyd Gondolli (Philip Baker Hall, from Anderson's "HARD EIGHT), who watches everything from behind the scenes and seems to pull the strings for everyone. There's Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly, also from "HARD EIGHT") who becomes Eddie's best friend as he makes the transition from Eddie Adams to new hot porn star DIRK DIGGLER). There's Amber Waves (Julianne Moore, who would become, along with many of these actors, part of the cast of Anderson's follow-up "MAGNOLIA"), the mother figure to Dirk. We even meet Maurice t.t. Rodriguez (Luis Guzman, of "MAGNOLIA" and "PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE"), the Puerto Rican club owner who hangs out with the cast and crew. And finally Jack, of course. This ensemble cast of "NASHVILLE" size and ability is a remarkable group that works together like they've known each other all their lives -- many have. Anderson is a writer-director to watch, as he takes a pocket full of style and an unusual script structure and lays out a sprawling epic of unimaginable ambition and limitless talent. It's quite a masterwork. The screenplay to "BOOGIE NIGHTS", though it contains much camera description and is more technical than the average "screenplay" (a script tells a story of a movie, like a novel does), is one not to miss. Anderson's scripts for "HARD EIGHT" and "MAGNOLIA" are just the same...I'm sure the soon to be released "PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE" will carry on the tradition. This is great.

i think the problem with *most* of these reviews is that the reviewers are bullheaded or egotistical. this isn't a novel, it's a screenplay/script, as the title reads. in fact: it's one of the best screenplays I'VE ever read and i've read thousands (literally). the story is well developed, as are the characters, and the dialogue is hilarious. recommended for paul anderson fans or boogie nights fans. not for book readers, necessarily. my only regret is that the deleted scenes that are available on both dvd versions weren't included, because they helped showcase the cast's amazing talent for improvisation, and allowed the characters to expand even further.

This movie is not just about the porno business. It is about the 1970s, from bellbottoms to disco and how a group of individuals who love sex but come from dysfunctional families find community with each other.It touches on how these people were caught up in substance abuse and had trouble raising their own families. It also touches on how the financial and business sectors frowned on or discriminated against them.

The VHS is a valued part of my vid collection and I don't regret buying for a microsecond. But as for this book, I was expecting a novelization and didn't get it. This is a SCREENPLAY, and I'm not into screenplays. I just can't get into a story that's all he said--she said. So maybe I'm being unfair with the 3 lousy stars when I should have done more research before I bought--"...an educated consumer..." yadda-yadda. Which makes it my fault, I suppose, not Paul Thomas Anderson's. So if a NOVEL is what you're looking for, I don't think there is one of this movie. Maybe Anderson should write one--if he does, he can guarantee selling a copy to me. It's a great story.

I now divide the world into two types of people: Those who are able to appreciate this movie.... and those who aren't. If you did like it, odds are you loved it. If you loved it, you should buy the screenplay, so you can take it with you everywhere. It is my bible and my model of excellence I strove towards.

I loved this movie, and I often go out and buy the screenplays after watching a movie of this caliber. I would have given this book 5 stars if not for one small problem, while incredibly well written, it looks as though someone merely took the script and shrunk it down to size. The writing is incredibly small, almost impossible to read. If you can get past this small quarrel, than you're in for a real treat.

BOOGIE NIGHTS has to be one of the greatest movies ever made! It tells the story of Eddie Addams who is guided through the world of adult films and changes his name to Dirk Diggler. I thought the movie was good, and so was the book.

I knew even before I saw the movie that I would love it. And I was right. It is one of my favorites. Paul Thomas Anderson is at his best--he is one of the most promising directors of the next century. This movie is important because he doesn't show the case for or the case against this family of pornographers and drug users--he shows them as people, and lets us make our own opinions about them.

What can I say? I was wowed by the movie, wowed by the book, wowed by Paul Thomas Anderson in general. In fact, Boogie Nights impressed me so much that I've decided to maintain a web site in honor of Paul Thomas Anderson, the author.

P.T. Anderson has made the best film of 1997 and here is the best original screenplay to it. Reading it, you'll see that P.T. Anderson is one of the greatest writers today and successfully communicates the ups and downs of the wild 70's boogie nights. It was obvious from his first film, "Hard Eight," that we were in the presence of a natural-born filmmaker.