Interesting Yet Artificial and Lengthy
Rating: 8 of 10 
This is a movie about the seventies and eighties. But that's not the ugly part yet. A movie about the porn industry - what's that? But yet, there's a neat twist to it: P.T. Anderson's direction turns this strange creature into a gripping tale, his disturbing realism giving the story suddenly a significance it would otherwise rarely deserve.
But still, this is neither 'Hard Eight' nor 'Magnolia'. This is certainly due to the topic, but the film's also simply too long. What works in 'Magnolia', long scenes of seeming irrelevance, doesn't work here - which seems to be due to the music mostly. 'Magnolia' is a piece of music which happens to be underscored by pictures, but 'Boogie Nights' lacks that, it lacks a continuous soundtrack which could save long, endless shots, and while the absence of music has its relevance too, it just doesn't seem to work in the long run.
Another detail missing is the terrific acting P.T. Anderson was able to incite in his other films. Mark Wahlberg is no Tom Cruise. Burt Reynolds doesn't work either. Philip Baker Hall has too little scenes (which feel rather like an out-of-place cameo). All the other actors do their job but seem uninspired somehow. This is just fatal in a movie about people and their relations.
All in all, the movie feels strangely artificial and forced, lacking life and charm. This is a documentary which wants to be a movie, but it stops just a little above mediocrity. What saves it is just the direction in most parts. Perhaps it is just the topic, and probably another director would have failed even more. But nevertheless, 'Boogie Nights' is simply overrated, worthwhile only during rather rare moments.
August 31st, 2000
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