Boogie Nights
Short description
Boogie Nights is set in 1977 in California's San Fernando Valley, where veteran adult-film director Jack Horner spots a young nightclub dishwasher named Eddie Adams and sees in him the raw material for a new kind of career. Eddie takes the screen name Dirk Diggler and quickly becomes a success in an industry enjoying a moment of cultural visibility and easy money. Around him gathers an extended family of performers and crew members whose fortunes rise with his own. As the decade turns, the carefree atmosphere gives way to personal excess and a changing business landscape, and the people who built their lives around Jack's sets find their positions far less secure.
Paul Thomas Anderson wrote, directed and produced the film, his second feature by chronological count among the fifteen he has directed, following Cigarettes & Coffee and preceding Hard Eight. Mark Wahlberg plays Eddie, with Burt Reynolds as Horner, Julianne Moore as Amber Waves, John C. Reilly as Reed Rothchild, Heather Graham as Rollergirl and Don Cheadle as Buck Swope. The credits list 99 cast members and 191 crew.
Made for about 15 million USD, the film returned roughly 43 million USD worldwide. On TMDB it holds 7.6 out of 10 across more than 3,700 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 8.3 out of 10 from 158 reviews, indicating stronger approval from reviewers than from the wider audience.
What's left behind the scenes
- The pseudonym of German singer Rollergirl is taken from this film.
- Buck Swope attempts to demonstrate the advantages of a stereo system to a customer in a music store, talking about a 'special TK-421 modification.' This is a reference to the type of Imperial stormtrooper with a bad transmitter in Star Wars. The film 'Star Wars' itself is mentioned in a conversation between Dirk and Reed.
- Director Anderson initially wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Dirk Diggler, but he was invited to star in James Cameron's Oscar-winning "Titanic." After watching "The Basketball Diaries," Anderson decided to cast Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. DiCaprio stated in 2004 that he would have preferred to star in "Boogie Nights."
- The band Heatwave refused to allow their song Boogie Nights to be used in the film because it wasn't about pornography.
- Samuel L. Jackson, who had previously worked with Anderson on 'The Hateful Eight' (1996), was initially chosen for the role of Buck Swope. However, according to the director, Jackson said he was 'not right for the part.' Don Cheadle played the role instead.
- The film features real adult film stars: Nina Hartley, Veronica Hart, Little Zoë, Summer Cummings, Skye Blue, Joanie Savage, and Tony Tedeschi.
- John Bryon appears as a guitarist at the first AVN Awards. In the extended version (on DVD), Bryon also appears at the second awards ceremony in a tuxedo. The actor participated in Paul Thomas Anderson's previous film, 'The Hateful Eight,' and after 'Boogie Nights,' starred in two other films by the director: 'Magnolia' and 'Punch-Drunk Love.'
- The nightclub scenes were filmed at The Country Club in Reseda, a district of Los Angeles.
- The film is dedicated to actor Robert Ridgely (who played Colonel James), who died of cancer after the film was completed.
- In Eddie Adams' room, a poster of Sidney Lumet's film 'Serpico' with Al Pacino hangs on the wall.
- Amber's child's father is played by John Doe from the punk band "X." The band was at the peak of its popularity during the years depicted in "Boogie Nights," and the band's name coincides with the rating system characterization of Jack Horner's films. There is also a minor character in the film named John Doe.
- Forty seconds were cut from the film to achieve a more favorable rating: as a result, NC-17 was changed to R.
- The firecracker explosions at Rahad Jackson's house and the character Buck Swope's name are a reference to Robert Downey Sr.'s 1969 film 'Putney Swope,' which Anderson greatly enjoys. Robert Downey Sr. appears in the film as the manager of a recording studio and is credited as 'The Prince.'
- The film is among the twenty best films since 1992, according to Quentin Tarantino.
- Warren Beatty and Sydney Pollack were considered for the role of Jack Horner, but did not appear in the film. After the film's premiere, Pollack expressed regret and said that he hadn't understood the character of Horner from the script until he saw the final version of the film.
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