Boogie Nights (1997)

Boogie Nights throws the best party of the decade for half its running time, then makes you stay and help clean up. That back half, when the disco years end and the money dries up, is long and grim, and at 155 minutes you feel every step down. But the party. Paul Thomas Anderson opens with a camera that glides into a nightclub and introduces the whole cast without a single cut, and it’s showing off in the best way. Set in a 1970s Valley film business strictly for grown-ups, it’s really about a fake family. Burt Reynolds is the calm dad, Julianne Moore the mom who misses her own son, and Mark Wahlberg’s Eddie is the kid who wants applause. Don Cheadle, a cowboy dreaming of his own stereo store, and John C. Reilly, a sidekick sure he’s a magician, steal every scene they’re in. An 8.6 because the ensemble and the camera are electric, even when the story crashes. $633.26 says you walk into your next party like a camera is gliding along behind you.

What works: The ensemble is stacked, and the long, gliding takes through clubs and parties make the late 1970s feel loud, warm and alive.

What doesn’t: The second half is a long, grim slide that keeps making the same point about the fall, and the 155 minutes start to drag.

Who it’s for: Grown-ups only: fans of big ensemble dramas, period soundtracks and directors who love to show off with the camera.