Definitely one of my favorite films of all time. The whole sequence when Dirk and his crew go to sell drugs to the kingpin has got to be one of the most uncomfortable moments in movie history. As a viewer you're on the edge of your seat feeling claustrophobic the entire time.
And that moment during "Jessie' s Girl" where Wahlberg drifts off and smiles to himself...that's when I really saw the redemptive aspect of the whole film. The five minutes between that smile and Jack's forgiveness almost feels like a gift to the viewer. Truly great film.
St.Louis77 David Amazing sequence there in that third act. The guy high on crack and what he would do or say next. The music which was phenomenal there.
You bet your a$$ it has. It all but swept the 20/20 awards in 2017. The 20/20s are essentially meant to fete those films which, in retrospect, were the best of its year. So. 20 years after BN was released, the members of the 20/20 Awards named it Best Film of 1997. PTA won Best Director, and Julianne Moore and Phillip Seymour Hoffman won for Supporting Actress and Actor in their respective categories.
Boogie Night was undoubtedly a great movie, but watching this clip I cant help but be reminded of how much we lost with the passing of Siskel and Ebert: always informing, thought -provoking and , entertaining. Theres no critic today who even comes close.
This movie does have a point. It is a movie about family. A "family of freaks" who sustain and rely on each other through the soaring highs and crushing lows of the porn industry. This meaning is solidified in the absolutely magnificent and emotionally cathartic "God Only Knows" musical sequence, followed by the steadicam long-take through Jack Horner's house.
@Elliot Markwardt That's what makes this a great movie to watch if you're feeling bad about your own life. A few hours of this and your attitude changes to "well, at least I'm not like..."
Elliot Markwardt this analysis of the ending is the most common one I see and could actually agree with. Yeah, everything’s better now than the shit they all went through, but have they really learnt anything? Have they grown in anyway? Will they continue to grow or will they just regress? Another line I notice in the ending as well which pretty much sums up the characters is when Jack asks Rollergirl to “clean” her room: “Move all the dirt to one side, so one part looks clean and the other looks dirty.” Pretty much all the characters have pushed the drugs, egotism and narcissism to the side as a bandaid fix, but actually haven’t gone to the root symptoms to get rid of them for good.
And the characters are repeatedly shown to be just plain stupid with a childish ignorance about them. Note when Dirk says to an interviewer, "What can you expect when you’re on top? You know? It’s like Napoleon. When he was the king, you know, people were just constantly trying to conquer him, you know, in the Roman Empire. So, it’s history repeating itself all over again." Not to mention his stupid karate moves he does and when he screams at Jack, "I know fucking karate!" when he most certainly does not.
I heard that Donnie got the part by telling the director, who was leaning toward Leo DiCaprio, for the part, went with Wahlberg after he told him that he "has a good 21/2 inches on Leo"
I think Ebert beccomes angry at Siskle, because for a film critic fail to recognize how brilliant the Boogie Nights is .. is inexcusable, and Ebert is infuriated.
The only professionals on TV today who actually remind me a little of Siskel & Ebert oddly enough are Wilbon and Kornheiser on PTI. They take their jobs seriously, know what they are talking about, will sometimes have opinions others disagree with, and are always intelligent and entertaining.
I actually saw Boogie Nights in the movie theater. The drug deal scene with Alfred Molina was startlingly intense. The firecrackers were so loud that everyone in the audience flinched when they went off. That scene, for me, was the realization i was watching a downright brilliant movie.
Same here dude, I'll never forget sitting there in the theater in 1997, and jumping every time a firecracker went off, there was so much tension on that scene... I haven't seen tension like since Halloween 1978
@@Whatchamawhozit Oh it was unbearable! lol. I also remember being absolutely fascinated that one of the scene's most jarring moments is dead silence. When one of Rahad's "Super Cool" mix tapes suddenly stops and another starts turning over. With all that geeked up tension mixed with the firecrackers, the deafening music, Rahad's coked up rage about anyone choosing what songs he listens to and then....SILENCE. It just sucks the air out of your lungs, It felt like a race car plowing into an immovable object . I remember the audience give out this awesome collective gasp. The whole thing was just too damn cool. And in case you were wondering, I am indeed jealous you got to see Halloween during its initial theatrical run. One of the top horror thrillers of all time. But I wouldn't exist for another few years lol. Hell I had to sneak into Boogie Nights because I was waaay too young. I bought a ticket to another movie and just kind of slipped in. I think it was that terrible Mr. Magoo movie that starred Leslie Nielsen.
It seems like Siskel didn't have much of an argument as to what he didn't like the film, and don't really think he got the point. Ebert was right on this one.
Siskel was pretty conservative, I think. He was able to praise a movie like Goodfellas, despite its moral bleakness because that movie does not regard its characters with love and affection. Boogie Nights is about characters who live in a world of sex and drugs, and it does treat them with love and affection. I don't think Siskel could fully get behind that. Ebert is on point.
Thank YOU! I hated Roger Ebert, and this right here is a great example why! He was such an obnoxious asshole who thought his opinion was the only one that mattered, and would badger anyone who disagreed with him. And, hell, I don't agree with Gene here, lol. I love this movie! But at least Gene was intelligent, polite and well spoken in his reviews! #RIPGeneSiskel!
Siskel really missed that one. That film was a brilliant and compelling observation on peoples need to feel relevant. Using the 70's and an industry that requires no skill is the perfect metaphor for vacuousness and self delusion.
The movie's "point" (as pointless as "looking" for a point actually IS in this GREAT film) is that these people live a life that will burn out. The characters (and real life porn industry folk) probably know this deep down. THE ENTIRE 70s decade was a vacuum of drugs, despair & burnt out post hippie culture (a period that Gene Siskel romanticizes with his Travolta 3 piece disco suit that he bought at auction). Hell, Eagles wrote an entire album (Hotel California) about this very subject! But what this film does is take several recognizable characters whom are all running away from their actual lives and give them their 15 minutes of sex disguised as entertainment glory & then slow painful real life fall back to earth (maybe actually a quick painful fall back to earth). PT Anderson does an incredible job of intersecting these stories into a path of precipitous decline. John Lennon said in his last interview the day before he died "hey, wasn't the 70s a drag? Let's make the 80s good". This movie was the evocation of THAT idea.
I was there, and yes, there was a lot, of shallowness, a lot of "I wish this was still the sixties," and so forth..That's part of what Punk rock arose to destroy. Regardless, the mid to late seventies, post Viet Nam pre AIDS, was in many ways an American high point. No war, an economy and set of institutions that took care of people. Old discriminatory laws had fallen away. Cheep education, very few homeless, and yes, a combination of acess to birth control and no incurable STDs that made sex pretty easy to obtain. And porn, for the first and last time, that actually had a plot.
Yeah, even though the film is about “family” and how people looking for fame can soon find it fleeting, the background setting of the 70’s porn industry in the “Golden Age” is actually a huge driver behind the characters. After obscenity laws related to censorship were watered down in the early 70’s, porn suddenly had an upsurge that propelled explicit X-rated titles to compete against “mainstream” movies. Porn stars regularly appeared on talk shows and were treated as celebrities in an era that’s hard to imagine today. By the 80’s however, video cassettes, hard drugs and the arrival of HIV/AIDS began to diminish the industry and it’s stars back to the shady underground, even taking a few lives of the burnt-out stars. I like how Boogie Nights touched on that era and the history behind it in progressing the rise and fall story, and it’s crazy that people would literally go out to the cinemas to watch a skin flick alongside mainstream non-pornographic films playing, now you can do it at home in the shady dark corners of the internet.
A pointless movie isn't necessarily a bad one. Siskel is judging the movie as if it were styled after an epic with a resolution that brings both closure and redemption, but most peoples' lives aren't epic. And this is just a movie about peoples' lives. I know a movie made about me would not have a conclusive 'point'.
Most stories don’t really have a point, they’re about the journey, not the destination. Siskel seemed to really lack understanding about that facet of storytelling.
The movie ends with an explicit reference to Raging Bull, so Siskel might ask himself what the "point" of Raging Bull is as well. The ravages of time is an evergreen theme for movies and literature. At the end of Boogie Nights, we see most of the characters building their lives outside of the porn industry, except Dirk. Dirk is the protagonist, he gets the "happy ending", but we know, beyond the bounds of the movie, his ending will be anything but.
@@DeflatingAtheism yes, the Raging Bull homage is so good and it wasn’t even intentional apparently! Both ending to ‘Bull’ and ‘Nights’ see the protagonists washed up and well past their prime, but trying to grasp something to cling onto their former glory and reflect on the journey. Neither Jake LaMotta or Dirk Diggler actually become better people at the end, they’re merely the exact same as they were at the start of the movie.
Funny thing about that song is it originally featured in Transformers the Movie back in the late eighties. I recognized it straight away as I watched it so many times as a kid.
You bet your ass Ebert was right! Anybody that would disagree with a movie that was extremely very well made like Boogie Nights is crazy. Siskel just did not understand the uniqueness of this film but Roger Ebert was brilliant enough to consider this one of the best movies of 1997. My thumb is up for you! ~Dutch
I saw it in theater in 97, but watching it 10 years later left much bigger impression, and now, 20 years later this in my top 10 of all time, right there with Fargo, Goodfellas, Royal Tenenbaums, The Tenant, Spoorloos and so on
@@valgehiir Amazing how different peoples opinions can be. I dislike all of your faves, but really despise The Tenant. What a totally useless piece of shit. Like many films of the 70s, it was about nothing. I asked myself,"But what am I watching here?" and the answer was nothing, true of so many films of that decade.
@Elliot Markwardt Really you would love The Passenger by Michaelangelo Antonioni with Jack Nicholson, come to think of it also that POS Last Tango. You know I realized Andy Warhol was very influential on 1970s cinema.You should try his 4 hour Chelsea Girls from 1966. It is on youtube.
+Onmysheet He does nothing of the sort...he just talks over Siskel. Of course Ebert, Mr. Russ Meyer, loved the movie. Head to head Siskel regularly out-argued Ebert.
The cast of "Boogie nights" was astonishing, and they deliver one of the best ensemble performances in the past two decades. Curiously, my favorite performance was delivered by veteran adult film actress Nina Hartley, as a self-absorbed sexual libertine whose hapless husband (William H. Macy) was always walking in on her having sex with some other guy. But what's initially premised as a running gag in the film goes tragically awry in a most startling and unexpected way, in a brilliant twist that shows off director Paul T. Anderson at his very best.
Holy shit, that is William H Macy... I never even realized, I just always thought of the character and not the actor. That's amazing, what great acting as always from Mr. Macy
That scene shocked me as well when it happened, but it’s a good halfway point in the movie where the arousing excitement of the first half “climaxes” before descending into the uncomfortable second half of the movie.
The cast is incredible, I don’t think I have seen a movie with such a talented cast- julianne moore, william macy, philip seymour, don cheadle etc… and Burt Reynolds and walhberg what a performance.
This was a tremendous movie. Every time I watched Siskel & Ebert, Siskel was often the more critical one when it came to good movies. What's to complain about this movie? Great cast with great individual stories. Great screenplay, great music in the film. The scene Ebert is talking about with the kid throwing firecrackers, is one of the best, on the edge of your seat, 10 minutes in movie making. Excellent movie.
What Gene is criticizing is exactly why it's so memorable. I think he wanted a conventional rise and fall story arc. It doesn't quite give it to us. This is why PTA is such an original if often confounding filmmaker. The Master is another great example. Going in, you think it's a takedown of Scientology. Well it is--sort of. But rather than a story in which Juaquin Phoenix's character gets brainwashed and loses his identity, the opposite happens. He TRIES to let himself get brainwashed but in the end he just can't and kind of ends up adrift more or less how he was when he started. Dirk Diggler is the same way--he's sort of changed by his experiences, but not really. We expect Boogie Nights to be a morality play but while it hardly endorses life in the porn industry, PTA refuses to take the obvious route. He seems to say this world has been both good and bad for these characters and there's no simple affirmation or denunciation to be had. Given that Dirk wasn't the brightest bulb and his mom was psychotic, was his life really going to be much better if he never became a porn star? Debatable. PTA is the master of ambivalence and ambivalence can be frustrating but it's also perhaps more honest to real life.
This movie shows us the human side of the porn world of 40 years ago, long before it became a giant internet industry. The story of this little production family, headed by Burt Reynolds, is told with great integrity by the director and cast. You become invested in the characters and care about what happens to them. And finally, if you are a younger viewer, it will give you some good examples of what party life in the ‘70s was like.
Boogie Nights is one of my favorite movies ever, the ensemble cast of characters, the screenplay, camera work, soundtrack, it’s got everything a Tarantino movie would have but PTA has his own unique style. I think it’s a major achievement in film making.
Sorry, but this is why Roger Ebert is far more recognized as a great movie critic than Gene Siskel. The firecracker scene is one of the all-time great moments in cinema
Slipser Slipman Ebert also gave a thumbs down to Die Hard and A Clockwork Orange, but a thumbs up to Space Jam and Home Alone 3. Needless to say, he wasn’t perfect.
Exactly, this film is about desperation, it is a human drama, and dark comedy, something that is very difficult to get on film convincingly. If Siskel didn't see that, he had no business being movie critic. Very few films compete with Boogie Nights, from 90s Happiness is similarly brilliant, but not many more
Ebert always had better taste than Siskel. Watch the Taxi driver review they did in the 1970s. Ebert of course recognized what a great movie it was while Siskel whined about the violence.
This is a film that draws you in subtlety. But once you are in, you are in. You find yourself hooked and you don't even know it. I felt like I was at the partys at Jack's house. I felt almost like the characters in this film were people I knew. They were real. It was really amazing how the film grabbed you and brought you in. If you haven't seen it. I would recommend it because you will trip on its impact on you
Boogie Nights was indeed a great movie. I also agree with Ebert that the firecracker scene was spectacular... it succeeded so well at conveying the sense of high stress, combined with tunnel vision and feeling numb... really great movie.
I remember watching this fantastic film in a half empty theater thinking how fantastic the acting was and how alive the movie was..Everyone was going Titanic crazy and this got overlooked..One of my favorite movies for sure
The best actors never play what the script has already written for them. Jack’s lines already had sleaze written into them, so Reynolds made the right choice and chose to add warmth and charm to the character instead.
I love these guys. These were the two dudes I would look forward to on Sunday early afternoon for movie reviews and just to know about movies. Great guys.
Man did Siskel ever miss the boat on this one. BN is my favorite movie of all-time. It’s an absolutely perfect film in my opinion, and it heralded the ascension of the best new director of the last 20 plus years. In a role written specifically with her in mind, it also helped to solidify my favorite actress, Julianne Moore, as one of the most talented actresses ever to grace the silver screen. It gets 5 of 5 stars from me. Ebert ended up naming it as the 3rd best film of 1997.
+Joe John when The Col goes away after the whole underage thing burt renyolds needs to turn to a new source of finance since his backer is now gone the new backer is implied to be with the mafia based on the subtle dialouge and he forces jack horner to move to video
Pat Greenhough actually that was similar to what happened to cause the wonderland murderers that John Homes was involved in. John Holmes is the real life inspiration for the Dirk Digler character. John Holmes conspired with a group of guys who lived on wonderland to rob an underworld figure of LA(the Molina character was based off). After the robbery, the underground figure realizes John Holmes was involved and forces John to give yup hogs accomplices and has John help with their executions.
Several performers who were in the industry during that time (the Golden Era) have said the movie does a great job of showing the very high highs and the ultra lows of the business. One said it was like working in an industry that was bi polar. At times you felt on top of the world and at others you were below rock bottom.
I've been seeing movies for almost 55 years and this is in my top 5. The soundtrack related to the scenes was perfect. A breakout movie for so many actors to many to name here. I can personally relate to the 70's and drugs. Like Ebert said they were a bunch of losers and when everyone broke up they went downhill fast but in the end they all came together cause all they had was each other and with that they had hope for the future. Finally Burt Reynolds best performance by far.
I think that's right. It may be that Siskel and Ebert were just a little too far outside that world to get how well the film captured it. They understood the breakdown and disillusionment in the plot, but seem to have missed the redemption which gave it meaning.
I've got to say this yet again. Both men were ideally suited to TV. Both had great conversational style of presentation. Both genuinely cared about good film making. So, it's a shame that they didn't think more highly of each other at the time they were making the show. I understand that you have to have ego to do this kind of TV criticism and there's always going to be some resentment in a partnership, but why these two guys didn't realise just how good the other was and how more successful they were as a team on the show.....its' regretable and I hope that both re-evaluated eventually.
I loved how they portrayed the characters in Boogie Nights. They were actually nice and friendly people. In fact, when one was discovered to be a pedophile, they turned their backs on him. Great movie and great characters.
Ehh, well Dirk did turn into a narcissistic crackhead in the 80’s and caused problems for Jack, who in himself wasn’t that great of a person looking on it. I would say Amber despite her flaws and addiction (which started Dirk’s downhill spiral) was genuine but just had a lot of personal issues, Reed also seems pretty decent and rational throughout the film as well (except for the drugs obviously). And Scotty seemed like a nice guy but just awkward and heartbroken after Dirk rejected his advances.
I totally agree with Siskel. PTA is such a great director, but he ends all his movies with some half-assed “make up your own mind” ending that doesn’t resolve anything. It’s frustrating to see that much greatness fizzle out every time.
I’ve literally had these exact conversations where I’ve been like “X movie is good but X scene wasn’t that great, you know?” And they’re like “BUT WHAT ABOUT Y!! Y WAS FANTASTIC!!” And I’m like “Yes, yes, definitely, but I was talking about x and-“ “WHAT ABOUT C, IT WAS SO GOOD!!! AND D, THAT TOO!!!” “Yes it was great, but-“ “AND E!” But I agree with Ebert, it’s a great movie. And after all of the misery and sadness the ending really brought it back, and while predictable it was a good way to end it I felt.
Props to them both, they always gave excellent revealing perspective. The film needed no heroes, romance, or cute bowtie wrap-up making a simple judgment about the characters or 'moral'. It told a realistic story of folks living in a phony world they believed would last forever and it didn't so they outcomes happened, reminds of big Tower style record stores against the internet. I agree with Gene. Rise In Power to both.
Still my all-time favorite movie. I haven't seen it in a few years, but for a while I was legit obsessed with it. Must've watched it twenty-five times, at least. The "point" is they're broken people who band together and form a makeshift family. It's sweet, sad, funny. Hands down still PTA's best movie.
I actually agree with Siskel. The characters, attention to detail, dialogue, dramatic tension are all incredibly vivid and well-realized. The ending is just what thew it off for me. "Arbitrary" is what Siskel says and I tend to agree. I hear the theme and overall point being meaninglessness and I appreciate that and understand that's likely what PTA intended - I just think we explored these characters so deeply and got to know them really well, the ending sort of drifts off instead of sewing up much resolution. It makes sense to end the way it does, showing each character graduate out of that time period and move on with life. But it feels more like the end of a documentary than an intimate story, imo.
I wish that Gene Siskel is alive in 2022 reviewing American Beauty, Mystery, Alaska, High Fidelity, Corky Romano, The Last Castle, Out Cold, One Hour Photo, Signs,, Sorority Boys, Bringing Down The House, Calendar Girls, Shanghai Knights, The Alamo, I Heart Huckabees, King Arthur, The Ladykillers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Annapolis, Deja Vu, Stay Alive, The Prestige, The Invisible, Burn After Reading, Miracle at St. Anna, Surrogates, Let Me In, The Help, Take Me Home Tonight, Jobs, Movie 43, La La Land, Nocturnal Animals, Down a Dark Hall, Gloria Bell, Tully, Greta, Hellboy, Her Smell, The Mustang, Promising Young Woman and Last Night in Soho and got sick with COVID-19 after reviewing Boogie Nights in 1997.
From the first time I've seen this film, it's been one of my favorites. Everyone is so good in it especially Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, and Don Cheadle.
I love these guys, because they could disagree in a heated manner, but were always respectful of each other. It's kind of funny to think that the politicians of today could learn a lot from watching these two gentlemen handle their disagreements. Oh, and by the way, great movie!
a brilliant film, and one of the great period pieces of the era. the greatest part was the ending and its true to life treatment, where people are victims of their own actions, and in turn are left to pick up the pieces and learn from their mistakes- some sooner than others, just as in real life.
Siskel also didn’t like Silence of the Lambs ( he said there was no chemistry between Hopkins and Foster) or Casino, but thought Saturday Night Fever was one of the greatest movies ever made.
Boogie Nights is a great film... Never seen a film that has so many interesting characters... The ensemble is incredible! PT Anderson! What can you say!?!
siskel was a cold-blooded dude. the director made you care about what happened and what you saw happen to the people in the story. the highest highs vs the lowest lows for a lot of misguided people, it was very human.
It's interesting that people try to argue that there really is a point to the movie, but most can't seem to agree on what the point actually is. Siskel thought it was pointless. I guess in a way, everyone is probably right; it's possible that a film can be however you interpret it. I personally don't think being a porn star is a pointless existence any more so than being a film star is. Porn has a definite purpose for existing, and it provides a valuable service for those who consume it. I say valuable because of the amount of money people spend on it. Or, at least they used to until the Internet came along. As for Eddie/Dirk, he was born with a gift and chose to use it in the best way he could, and I think that's admirable. It's just too bad he was a certifiable idiot.
Gideon Waxfarb Dirk Diggler was based closely on 70s porn star John Holmes. But while Diggler was just dim, Holmes was a genuine Sociopath. So, is a porn stars life meaningless? I don't think so either. People do different things to pay the rent. Is a Zinga executives life meaningless? Well, if meaning is derived only from work, I would say yes.
I really loved this movie. As mentioned they are like this big family of misfits. The best scene is them at the drug dealers house . It's just crazy with the dealer blaring his favorite music & u feel the nervousness of Wahlberg & john Reilly esp when the dealer has that little guy there blowing off little fire crackers which makes the two guys jump bc they know the bodyguard is about to bust them any minute as he is checking out the fake coke. Such a great scene. Anytime I even think of boogie nights the sister christian or Jesse's girl blaring. Burt deserved the oscar that year. The casting is pretty great. Wahlberg ( in his breakout movie performance) Reilly, Reynolds, alfredo Molina, julianne moore , heather Graham, thomas Jane phillip Seymour hoffman & William Macy. That's an epic ensemble cast. Finally that sequence of seeing all the characters at their worst is pretty haunting & stayed with me after the movie ended.
I agree with Roger- the "pointlessness"/quiet desperation is the point. I remember being touched in the end, that after all that the characters go through, they get up and go on and are like an unconventional family. That snapshot impression of the film stayed with me. Plus vivid, memorable characters, great music, artful filmmaking!
The Theme of their movie is that of an adoptive family, which was what Jack Horner’s film company. That family wins and suffers together and forgives, even if it’s in the porn business. That’s the theme and it’s melancholy and beautiful. Sorry Gene.
I loved Boogie Night's flashy yet reserved style, fantastic cast, and great cinematography. It is one of my favorite PTA films and films in general. That being said, I felt the film could have cut out several scenes and plotlines.
I thought a lot about that idea after having seen a lot of scenes they did cut floating around the internet, but have actually come to the opinion that cutting more would have hurt rather than helped the movie. Could they have made a much tighter, shorter film and would it have been good? Absolutely. But I think the way this film does a lot of wandering around, switching between stories that are dark and light, important and trivial, central and peripheral, is part of the true magic of the world building that makes this movie so wonderful. They managed to stay in a narrow zone on each of these fronts that tipping any of them much either way would throw the rest off balance and ultimately hurt the movie. Again, all a matter of opinion and I fully understand and respect yours.
@@kentonkruger8333 one thing that was oddly never really referenced in the film was the HIV pandemic that would have been taking hold during the 80’s part of the film. It was significant given in the context of Boogie Nights and it’s Story it cost the life of the John Holmes the real life inspiration for Dirk Diggler, and PTA said Dirk probably would have died by the late 1980’s. Probably just a nitpick because the rest of the film is perfect!
Gene Siskel: It left me cold Roger Ebert: What about this character? Gene: Yea, that one was good. But still... Roger: How about this? Gene: Well yea, obviously that was good Roger: and this? Gene: Of course that was great it was done well. Mixed review for me.