A Reel 20: BOOGIE NIGHTS

 “I got a feeling that behind those jeans is something wonderful just waiting to get out.”

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of Paul Thomas Anderson’s BOOGIE NIGHTS.

The second feature film from then-27 year-old Paul Thomas Anderson, the rags-to-riches tale set in the back drop of the 1970’s adult film industry was a 1997 box office hit, critical smash, awards gobbler, and would be hailed as the best film about the 1970’s since the 1970’s. Less about porn and more about the need to belong and the unbridled passion for filmmaking, BOOGIE NIGHTS told the story of a young, well-endowed busboy named Eddie, who is recruited into the porn industry by celebrated filmmaker Jack Horner. Eddie changes his name to Dirk Diggler, and what follows is an arms-up roller coaster ride…as Dirk rises, falls, and rises again during one of the wildest and craziest time periods in America.

The film was based on a “mockumentary” short-film that Anderson created while he was still in high school called THE DIRK DIGGLER STORY, which was in part based on a 1981 documentary about real-life porn-star John C. Holmes. Anderson re-wrote his idea into a feature length script, and set out to make it after his first feature, HARD EIGHT. Initially, he wanted to make an NC-17 rated film, but when the film’s producers stood firm on an R rating, Anderson accepted that as a challenge.

The role of Dirk would go to Mark Wahlberg, who at the time had come to fame as the younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg of the boy-band New Kids on the Block, and his own eventual act, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He had only five films under his belt when Anderson cast him. The role of Jack Horner would go to 70’s sex symbol Burt Reynolds (how apt), and the rest of the impressive cast would include Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, Luis Guzman, Thomas Jane, Alfred Molina, and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

BOOGIE NIGHTS would embrace the style and substance of the 1970’s, and would be backed by popular rock hits from the time period. Hits from Marvin Gaye, the Commodores, Night Ranger, and The Beach Boys would be used to great effect and give the film a distinct personality.

The film would premier at the Toronto International Film Festival to acclaim, and would eventually be a box office hit and one of the best reviewed films of the year. Burt Reynolds would win a Golden Globe for his performance and would be nominated for an Oscar. Julianne Moore would earn six awards and nominations.

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BOOGIE NIGHTS is a film which unfairly gets dismissed by mainstream movie audiences simply because it takes place in the porn industry. Once we get past that taboo subject, there is a story to be told which echoes a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy; it’s a story of a boy finding his way, losing it, and coming out the better. At the beginning of the film, the adult movie business is one that is nearly considered legit; shot on film and played in theatres. By the end, the business moves to videotape and out of movie-houses, and on that journey Paul Thomas Anderson takes his characters through it all. The film recaptures the death of not only mainstream porn but the 1970’s as well, as it came crashing down in a painful age of transition.

BOOGIE NIGHTS was a major stepping stone for Anderson and his cast. It was the film that got Mark Wahlberg noticed as a legitimate actor, gave Burt Reynolds a fresh start, and gave Anderson the weight he needed to film his eventual masterpiece, THERE WILL BE BLOOD a decade later. Phillip Seymour Hoffman would re-team with Anderson for THE MASTER in 2012 and earn an Oscar nomination, and the way the music was used in BOOGIE NIGHTS would inspire future filmmakers for two decades; right up to James Gunn and his GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films. In 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson delivered a galactic-sized film with endearing messages for any one of us who has dared to dream, and that is a story that can never be dismissed.

“Everyone is blessed with one special thing…”