Actors - Boogie Nights

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	Actors - Boogie Nights

Boogie Nights is a 1997 film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It follows a young porn star as he enters the pornographic film industry in the late 1970s and deals with the highs and lows of success; it is loosely based on the life of John Holmes, although the protagonist is depicted as being considerably younger than the actor.

Plot

The film depicts the pornographic film industry of the late 1970s and early 1980s as seen through the life of a young porn star, Dirk Diggler, played by Mark Wahlberg. It shows how he is discovered by porn director Jack Horner (played by Burt Reynolds, based on the real-life William Margold), enters the business, his rise to stardom, and his eventual downfall, partly due to cocaine-induced paranoia and having become an arrogant "star". It ends with his reconciliation with svengali Jack.

Dirk's rise and fall serves as a way to explore a number of characters and the fashions and foibles of the late 1970s and early 1980s. All the characters experience a variety of highs and lows as the plot intertwines the stories of Jack, Amber, Buck, Rollergirl, and Dirk.

Jack discovers a young Eddie Adams working in a nightclub and shortly after recruits him into the industry. Eddie adopts the moniker Dirk Diggler and quickly becomes a porn celebrity, winning several adult film awards and spending his earnings on clothes, shoes, a new apartment, and his most prized possession, an orange Corvette.

In a lengthy sequence, the film moves from one character to another showing the audience their attempts and failures to make lives for themselves after they have left Jack's adult film family. Jack himself has become a novelty after his main source of funding, the Colonel James, is imprisoned for pederasty. Jack is bored with the industry when it moves to an all-videotape format and the films can be produced without the effort of script, character development, or direction. Jack tries a new angle to revitalize his career, employing Rollergirl to ride around with him in a limousine enticing random strangers to have sex with her on film. The ploy goes very badly when the man they choose at random knows Rollergirl from high school and insults her. She and Jack beat him severely and leave him bleeding on the street.

Amber finds herself in a nasty custody battle with her former husband over their child. The court determines that she is unfit to be a mother.

Buck Swope marries another porn star, Jessie St. James, who, shortly thereafter, becomes pregnant. After being denied a loan to open a stereo store, Buck stops at a donut shop and is caught up in a robbery. In a strange twist of fate, the clerk, thief, and a gun-wielding customer who tries to stop the robbery all wind up dead and Buck escapes with the money the thief would have otherwise stolen.

Dirk becomes addicted to cocaine and has a violent falling out with Jack during a shoot. He and Reed leave to pursue their dream of forming an early-80s rock band. However, they are unable to pay for their studio recording time. Dirk tries to prostitute himself but is assaulted by a gang of thugs. Dirk and Reed, along with their mutual friend, Todd (Thomas Jane), attempt to scam an associate, Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina), into purchasing a half-kilo of baking soda, which they claim is cocaine. During the deal, Todd attempts a much larger robbery and is subsequently killed during the ensuing gunfight. (The incident is loosely based on the real life Wonderland Murders.) Dirk and Reed barely escape the house alive. Shortly after this incident, Dirk returns to Jack's house and the two reconcile. Dirk re-enters the porn industry and most of the characters appear to be living in Jack's house, their version of a family.

Background

In the audio commentary of a DVD release of the movie, Anderson states that the character of Dirk Diggler is loosely based on real-world porn star John Holmes, with the character Rahad Jackson (played by Alfred Molina) based on Eddie Nash. Anderson was inspired by the 1989 Rolling Stone article "The Devil and John Holmes". The character of Dirk Diggler mentions Holmes and his porn alter ego Johnny Wadd during a scene in the film. Paul Anderson stated in the audio on the DVD release that he was inspired after seeing the film "Exhausted" written, produced and directed by Holmes' friend Julia St. Vincent. St. Vincent's relationship is portrayed in Boogie Nights by Julianne Moore -- particularly in a scene where she produces a documentary film about Dirk Diggler.

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