This is a treat for Boogie Nights fans, even though its pretty hard to get hold of (though a google search should do the trick). It documents the plight of a young man from a religious background, who becomes a porn star by the name of "Dirk Diggler". With fame, money and drugs comes fragile egos, and so Dirk storms off Jack Honner's (Robert Ridgely, who played The Colonel in Boogie Nights) porn set to pursue other career avenues (music, legitimate acting), before eventually dying of a drug overdose.
Seeing as this is a dry run for Boogie Nights, many of the plot strands feel different. For example, Dirk is bisexual and has a relationship with Reed Rothchild (played by the muscular Eddie Delcore in his only screen credit), and he actually turns out to be musically proficient (unlike in the film). After a successful album, he ends up starring in his own cop show "Angels Live in My Town" that bombs with critics and audiences. I guess he made Dirk & Reed heterosexual in Boogie Nights due to studio pressure, but he probably changed the other two plot points because they don't quite work. If Dirk's TV show was such a big bomb, why did he feel the need to go back to porn? Surely he could've cranked out another album, if the first one was successful? The acting is fine for the most part. Micheal Stein's interpretation of Dirk Diggler is a bit one dimensional, because the film is documenting his character. Apart from the scene where he storms off Jack's set, there aren't any major dialogue scenes with him that gives us some of his character. Robert Ridgely is very good as Jack Horner, Dirk's patriarchal director and Eddie Falcore does okay as Reed Rothchild, though its difficult to think of him in the role after John C. Riely's memorable performance. The only performance that didn't quite fit with me was Rusty Schwimmer's as "Candy Kane". I don't mean to be shallow, but she seems like an unlikely choice for a mainstream porn actress. She's no Heather Graham, that's for sure! Thought the ending was a bit too sappy, with a montage of Dirk & Reed together with Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" playing over it, but it could've been a lot worse, I guess.
All in all, this is a pretty impressive achievement for someone of that age. Its made with the confidence of someone at least 10 years older and he at least managed to rectify his mistakes for the mini-epic that is Boogie Nights, made almost 10 years later.
Seeing as this is a dry run for Boogie Nights, many of the plot strands feel different. For example, Dirk is bisexual and has a relationship with Reed Rothchild (played by the muscular Eddie Delcore in his only screen credit), and he actually turns out to be musically proficient (unlike in the film). After a successful album, he ends up starring in his own cop show "Angels Live in My Town" that bombs with critics and audiences. I guess he made Dirk & Reed heterosexual in Boogie Nights due to studio pressure, but he probably changed the other two plot points because they don't quite work. If Dirk's TV show was such a big bomb, why did he feel the need to go back to porn? Surely he could've cranked out another album, if the first one was successful? The acting is fine for the most part. Micheal Stein's interpretation of Dirk Diggler is a bit one dimensional, because the film is documenting his character. Apart from the scene where he storms off Jack's set, there aren't any major dialogue scenes with him that gives us some of his character. Robert Ridgely is very good as Jack Horner, Dirk's patriarchal director and Eddie Falcore does okay as Reed Rothchild, though its difficult to think of him in the role after John C. Riely's memorable performance. The only performance that didn't quite fit with me was Rusty Schwimmer's as "Candy Kane". I don't mean to be shallow, but she seems like an unlikely choice for a mainstream porn actress. She's no Heather Graham, that's for sure! Thought the ending was a bit too sappy, with a montage of Dirk & Reed together with Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" playing over it, but it could've been a lot worse, I guess.
All in all, this is a pretty impressive achievement for someone of that age. Its made with the confidence of someone at least 10 years older and he at least managed to rectify his mistakes for the mini-epic that is Boogie Nights, made almost 10 years later.