Word: diggler
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Philip Seymour Hoffman knows how to make you wince. Remember his Scotty, the hapless gofer who desperately lunged to kiss porn star Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights? Or his wrenching portrayal of Allen, the obscene phone caller in Todd Solondz's Happiness? Now Joel Schumacher's Flawless brings us Rusty, a transsexual who befriends a homophobic stroke victim played by Robert De Niro. It's a typically gutsy performance that tightropes between drag-queen camp and the pathos of a man who believes he's the butt of a biological practical joke...
...Boogie Nights, Dirk Diggler (a.k.a. Eddie Adams) is the champion of the American dream. When Adams, son of an alcoholic mother and powerless father, reflects on his sizable endowment--"Everyone is born with one special thing"--it is a moment that deeply stirs our egalitarian passions. His ability to come on demand is a legitimate foundation on which to base his worth, and in America, even Eddie, a busboy from the San Fernando Valley, can make it big. He becomes Dirk and rides his broomstick o' love straight...
...Anderson had ironic intent when he chose to find an American story in the sex industry is a matter for artistic interpretation. Regardless, as one watches the ideals of our nation so seamlessly grafted on to the foundation of hard-core porn, the patriotic heart must swell. Dirk Diggler reminds us that the American dream is no longer about hard work aided by a bit of good fortune. It's about rising on the wings of mediocrity and claims of entitlement. It's about gratifying those in the position to facilitate your climb, a widespread sort of prostitution euphemistically described...
...precisely why the trick Anderson and his cast pull off is so admirable. Anderson makes the inherently unlikable lovable, the kitschy worthwhile and the ridiculous meaningful. Mark Wahlberg is excellent as the central character who changes from innocent and stupid Eddie Adams to egotistical and stupid porn star Dirk Diggler. Burt Reynolds seems likely to get a Travolta-like burst of renewed big-screen legitimacy from this role, as plays Jack with such sincerity that we almost believe that his films might actually be good (until we see how hilariously bad they really are). Jack, who has the delicacy...
...porno films are big business. Folks looking at Eddie's endowment gawk as if it were the Washington Monument. He is pornography's future: the Holy Groin. Those 13 inches in his pants will make Eddie a big bright shining star. With a star's neon name: Dirk Diggler...