Around a decade before it became Boogie Nights, Paul Thomas Anderson made this student film with essentially the same basic plot. Shot as a mockumentary rather than a drama, the film follows the rise and fall of Dirk's career in pornography, with success leading to drugs and many other vices. The plot generally works and it mixes the absurd with a decent story that is impressive when you consider that this film was made by a 17 year old. It does engage although it must be said it is very rough.
The tale itself is fine but the filming appears to have been onto video tape and generally the quality it poor, with a slow motion sequence at the end being particularly choppy. The "fly on the wall" nature of the film helps cover up a little for the limitations of the time but still, it is a student film. Performances are hard to judge because people do feel a bit wooden and unnatural, but then in fairness they are supposed to be porn actors – not the most comfortable with dialogue at the best of times! Stein is OK as Diggler but really the only performance that sticks in the mind is Ridgely, who does play well and seems better than the limits of the film around him.
As a short film it is decent but better when considered it was made by a 17 year old fighting limits at every turn. It is mostly worth seeing as a curio piece now though, a companion for fans of Boogie Nights, which is by a million miles a superior piece of work.
