boogie nights

1997 *** 155 mins.

In all honesty, I am not sure exactly what to make of this movie. The main message I keep getting from it is this: "let's just see how much we can get by with with an R-rating." For a while, the film seems to show that the characters are learning their lessons. Then, though, the last scene of the movie happens. My question to Paul Thomas Anderson is this: Are you condemning or commending the pornographic film industry? I can't really tell. My advice is this: stick with Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love; those films are much better.
Rated R for strong sexual content, simulated sex, nudity, drug use, violence, and language.