I am a staunch appreciator of Boogie Nights. It would definitely be on my shortlist for my list of best movies of the 1990s. I liked it the first time I saw it as a new movie, but to be honest the subject matter squicked me out a little bit, and it took a few more viewings for me to appreciate what a rich, funny, resonant, accomplished piece of work it is.
Some Paul Thomas Anderson fans might opt for Magnolia or There Will Be Blood or The Master as Anderson’s best movie, but to me that’s all poppycock—the right answer is clearly Boogie Nights in my mind. It’s one of those movies that every time I stumble upon it on TV, I’m going to watch it to the end. I love everything about it.
Paul Thomas Anderson and some of his Boogie Nights cast members
Released in October of 1997, the movie was eventually distributed by New Line and had a production budget of $15 million. Anderson, however, had considerable difficulty getting the project off the ground; three years earlier, in October of 1994, at the age of 24, Anderson submitted a draft of the script to Twentieth Century Fox, which rejected it. Anderson put the project on the back burner and concentrated on finishing what would prove to be his debut, Hard Eight, which first saw audiences at the 1996 Cannes film festival.
Here’s Fox’s assessment of the various parts of the script:
RECOMMENDATION: NO
CONCEPT: POOR
CHARACTERIZATION: FAIR
DIALOGUE: FAIR
STORYLINE: POOR
Keep reading after the jump…