Boogie Nights
I genuinely cannot understand how anyone watches Boogie Nights and comes away thinking, “Wow, what a masterpiece.” I came away thinking, “Wow, I wish I had my time back.”
I will give the movie one thing: it is shot incredibly well. Paul Thomas Anderson clearly knows how to make a movie look good. Unfortunately, he also decided to fill that beautifully photographed movie with characters I could barely stand listening to for three hours. The acting is so aggressively mannered that I constantly felt like I was watching actors perform the concept of acting rather than actual human beings. Everyone is yelling, crying, staring, twitching, or delivering lines like they are auditioning for the Most Dramatic Person Alive award.
And then there is Mark Wahlberg, who may genuinely be one of the worst things to ever happen to cinema. I don't know how someone can be so aggressively present while contributing so little. Every time he appeared on screen, I felt my soul leave my body. I have seen better performances from people who were accidentally caught on camera in the background of other movies.
The one exception is William H. Macy, whose character is basically the only person here I actually cared about. His miserable little existence was infinitely more interesting to me than anything happening with the rest of this obnoxious collection of pornographers, wannabe celebrities, lunatics, and people screaming at each other. His character feels like he wandered into the wrong movie and is desperately trying to escape. He was funny!
And yes, I understand the point. I understand that this is about excess, exploitation, fame, insecurity, the pornography industry, the American dream, found family, and whatever other themes I might have missed. I got it, and I simply did not care. A movie can have themes. It can have symbolism. It can be beautifully shot. It can have incredible production design and ambitious direction. It can be made by one of the greatest directors known as Paul Thomas Anderson! None of those things magically make me enjoy watching it.
This movie is three hours of people I don't like doing things I don't want to watch while being filmed by someone who is extremely talented at filming things I don't want to watch.
It is polished. It is ambitious. It is technically impressive.
And I absolutely fucking hate it.
I will give the movie one thing: it is shot incredibly well. Paul Thomas Anderson clearly knows how to make a movie look good. Unfortunately, he also decided to fill that beautifully photographed movie with characters I could barely stand listening to for three hours. The acting is so aggressively mannered that I constantly felt like I was watching actors perform the concept of acting rather than actual human beings. Everyone is yelling, crying, staring, twitching, or delivering lines like they are auditioning for the Most Dramatic Person Alive award.
And then there is Mark Wahlberg, who may genuinely be one of the worst things to ever happen to cinema. I don't know how someone can be so aggressively present while contributing so little. Every time he appeared on screen, I felt my soul leave my body. I have seen better performances from people who were accidentally caught on camera in the background of other movies.
The one exception is William H. Macy, whose character is basically the only person here I actually cared about. His miserable little existence was infinitely more interesting to me than anything happening with the rest of this obnoxious collection of pornographers, wannabe celebrities, lunatics, and people screaming at each other. His character feels like he wandered into the wrong movie and is desperately trying to escape. He was funny!
And yes, I understand the point. I understand that this is about excess, exploitation, fame, insecurity, the pornography industry, the American dream, found family, and whatever other themes I might have missed. I got it, and I simply did not care. A movie can have themes. It can have symbolism. It can be beautifully shot. It can have incredible production design and ambitious direction. It can be made by one of the greatest directors known as Paul Thomas Anderson! None of those things magically make me enjoy watching it.
This movie is three hours of people I don't like doing things I don't want to watch while being filmed by someone who is extremely talented at filming things I don't want to watch.
It is polished. It is ambitious. It is technically impressive.
And I absolutely fucking hate it.
Mini Review: I genuinely cannot understand how anyone watches Boogie Nights and thinks, “Wow, what a masterpiece.” I thought, “Wow, I wish I had my time back.” It’s shot incredibly well, but I couldn’t stand the aggressively mannered acting or most of these obnoxious characters. Mark Wahlberg may be one of the worst things to ever happen to cinema. The one exception is William H. Macy, whose miserable character was actually funny! I understand the point. I just didn’t care. Polished, ambitious, & I hate it.
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