Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
85
(28 sources)
85
(28 sources)
-
100
New York Daily News
Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson has perfectly wedded form to function by filming Boogie Nights in a style suggesting the grainy texture of porn and the ambivalence of the era. Read Full Review » -
100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
While it's very funny, Boogie Nights taps into something much deeper with its on-target depiction of the shifting political and social tides of the '70s and '80s and thoughtful relationships between characters. It's a deeply satisfying movie. Read Full Review » -
100
San Francisco Chronicle
With Boogie Nights, we know we're not just watching episodes from disparate lives but a panorama of recent social history, rendered in bold, exuberant colors. Read Full Review » -
100
The New Republic
If Boogie Nights were poorly made and acted, its materials would make it intolerably tawdry. But its so well done that we keep watching. [Nov. 10, 1997] Read Full Review » -
100
Chicago Tribune
A hard-core movie with a soft, light-hearted center and an edge like a knife. Read Full Review » -
100
Entertainment Weekly
Mark Wahlberg, in a star-making performance, has the kind of electric ingenuousness that John Travolta did in "Saturday Night Fever." Read Full Review » -
100
USA Today
With its ceaseless music, large canvas, shrewd casting and flawless ensemble acting and the dexterity of its whiplashing mood switches, the movie recalls Robert Altman's "Nashville" more than any subsequent movie has. Read Full Review » -
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Has the quality of many great films, in that it always seems alive. Read Full Review » -
90
Film.com
He (Anderson) simply doesn't allow for dull moments, and his gifts for irony and showmanship are clearly appreciated by a collection of actors who have rarely been better. Read Full Review » -
90
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90
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90
TNT RoughCut
As lensed brillantly by 26-year-old Anderson, the movie is at once tasteful and raunchy. Read Full Review » -
89
Austin Chronicle
From the second it begins, Boogie Nights seizes your senses and pulls you right in: no turning back, no time for debate, no regrets. Read Full Review » -
88
San Francisco Examiner
I'm not sure all of this works out as convincingly as Anderson intends in the movie's somewhat unsatisfying ending, but getting there is a wickedly enjoyable journey. Read Full Review » -
88
ReelViews
Isn't just an expose of the porn industry -- it's a provocative and involving character study, as well. Read Full Review » -
88
Baltimore Sun
A grand, sweeping nostalgia trip that evokes the sickness of an era even as it tries to find its essential humanity. Read Full Review » -
80
The New York Times
The movie's special gift happens to be Mark Wahlberg, who gives a terrifically appealing performance in this tricky role. Read Full Review » -
80
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80
Chicago Reader
Notwithstanding its occasional grotesque nods to postmodernist convention, this is highly entertaining Hollywood filmmaking, full of spark and vigor. Read Full Review » -
80
Time
So here's a tip for those attending this handsomely acted, epic-length little film. Ease into the sleaze, stare at the party animals, look but don't touch, and, oh, boogie all night. [October 6, 1997] Read Full Review » -
80
Los Angeles Times
A true storyteller, able to easily mix and match moods in a playful and audacious manner, he (Anderson) is a filmmaker definitely worth watching, both now and in the future. Read Full Review » -
70
TV Guide
He (Anderson) manages to guide his cast of characters through an epic story of self-delusion with a skill and grace that many more experienced filmmakers would be hard put to match. Read Full Review » -
70
Film.com
A film so driven by pure style that a script barely seems necessary in its first half, Boogie Nights becomes bogged down in a predictable aftermath of drug deals, post-stardom decay, cocaine-fueled nuttiness, and self-loathing. Read Full Review » -
70
Salon.com
Moore, who may be the most unpredictably talented actress in movies right now, plays Amber with an inseparable mixture of maternal feeling and lust that's flabbergasting. Read Full Review » -
70
Dallas Observer
It's a deeply divided film--hugely ambitious and uneven, with sequences that seem to point to a new, comically flagrant movie sexuality and others that drag one into the funky muddle of the dreariest dopehead downers from the '70s. Read Full Review » -
60
Slate
These late scenes are over the top, as mean and reductive as editorials in a tabloid, and they nearly extinguish the moral subtlety of what's gone before. Read Full Review » -
50
Christian Science Monitor
Heavily influenced by Quentin Tarantino's brand of quirky sensationalism, this high-energy saga by Paul Thomas Anderson goes a long way toward exposing the greed and stupidity of the pornography trade, then loses its moral compass and steers toward a sadly superficial ending. Read Full Review » -
50
Portland Oregonian
It's possible to be dazzled by a movie and still not like it very much. Read Full Review »
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