Apart from being almost universally praised by film critics (that 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes prove), boogie nights It also earned late-career accolades for the ensemble’s most iconic members. Burt ReynoldsReleased 25 years ago on October 10, 1997, the film was hailed as a comeback for a former pin-up that had largely gone unnoticed since its heyday in the late ’70s and early ’80s. smokey and the bandits When Cannonball run. Suddenly, Reynolds was hailed as a potential Oscar winner.
But Burt Reynolds himself is in the minority who didn’t like Paul Thomas Anderson’s stylish, evocative tragicomedy about the adult film industry in LA’s San Fernando Valley in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
He said, “I hated it, I hated it.” Mark Wahlbergstarring as the blessed porn sensation Dirk Diggler, he a roll recall interview (see clip above).
Wahlberg remembers Reynolds confessing to him as much as the first time they met since filming boogie nights Together at the 1997 New York Film Festival.
“We were on the red carpet and he grabbed me by the headlock and said, ‘I don’t know why they love this movie so much, kid.
Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (one of three nods) boogie nights), but he barely campaigned for the statuette, eventually losing to Robin Williams good will hunting.
“Had he not dug such a hole for himself, he would have won an Oscar,” believes Wahlberg.
Reynolds’ distaste for the film began during production, and Wahlberg says the main problem with his co-star’s film was the rhythm of Anderson’s script, which Reynolds seemed to have trouble getting used to. This led Reynolds to take on the role of Jack Horner, the super-producer of “Exotic Pictures” with an Irish accent during rehearsals.
“I just started laughing because I thought he was messing around,” admits Wahlberg. “He didn’t really like it.”
Still, Wahlberg considers Reynolds’ achievements, who died in 2018 at age 82, he claimed to have never seen the final cut of boogie nightsas a legend.
“Bart does a great job in the movie, but I think he realized it later. One of the greatest performances ever.”