On B List of Movie Reviews

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Boogie Nights (1997)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 12/02, 5/04, 3/07

Boogie
3/07: Welcome, Boogie Nights, to my list of Most Overrated Films of All Time.

Let's begin with the cast. Many try too hard to be cool. Almost every single one of them, Marky Mark, Heather Graham, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, and John Reilly, is guilty of this. The way they talk sounds corny.

On the other hand, Luis Guzmán, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Burt Reynolds, who has publicly denounced the film despite receiving the first Oscar nomination of his long career, aren't bad. It's because they can act. Thomas Jane and Alfred Molina, who has the best scene, are excellent, too.

There's no plot to speak of. It's just porn, drugs, and loss of their shit. Like Dazed and Confused, it's been a flow of 70's coolness with scenes ripped off from Saturday Night Fever and Goodfellas. The porn part is what gets people's attention. Hence, the viewers must automatically think Boogie Nights is a great movie because it's American of them to say so.

Most of the characters aren't interesting to get know to. Take Becky Barnett, the black porn actress. Her purpose is uh...? And Scotty? I get it for the umpteenth time that he's fucking stupid and a goddamn pervert. Reed Rothschild brings what to the table? Rollergirl is the dumbest, most useless character on skates. Amber Waves, who the fuck cares about her problems?

All in all, overdosing on cool, Boogie Nights makes no important statements.