Alternate Best Actor 1997: Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights

Mark Wahlberg did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Eddie Adams better known as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights.

Mark Wahlberg's acting career is certainly an acting career that exists. One marked, no pun intended there, of frequent miscasting or just straight forward and usually forgettable performances as "stoic lead". The performances that are beyond "okay" from him all actually fulfill a similar tonal quality, that being the mostly comic performance though with potential dramatic intention. That was the case with his work in I Heart Huckabees, the best part of that largely indulgent effort, his Oscar nominated turn in The Departed, which was a serious film however his role as built on caustic comedy, but his crowning achievement of this is here in what was his breakout film role in Boogie Nights. The very nature of this performance is fascinating in that it is a good performance that is largely about giving a bad performance. Wahlberg excels in this role of playing, Eddie who later calls himself Dirk Diggler as a porno "star", by very much embracing the character as really a bit of an idiot to put it lightly. And while there is dramatic elements here, I'll just go with the more straight forward praise first of just praising the comedic mastery of Wahlberg's work in making Dirk a proper meathead whose prized possession is...well I'll avoid too graphic of innuendo and say that it has something also to do with meat. 

A great deal of Wahlberg's performance is purely finding the humor in just how thick headed Dirk is as this supposed star role. There are the comical phases of his performance that are indeed hilarious in portraying different sides of this sort vapid quality. This is from his earliest time as the young club worker who catches the eye of porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds). Wahlberg's performance works by just portraying the wide eyed optimism about Dirk that is indeed quite thin, and comical because of how completely naive he seems to be in reaction to the whole world of porn that he finds himself suddenly. This switches quickly to Dirk trying to make a name for himself which Wahlberg performs though initially with the utmost earnestness, a just people pleasing energy and an upbeat quality of someone seemingly just trying to "perform well". This as even in his initial scene of speaking to one up Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), initially rival though he accepts his place as Diggler's sidekick, Wahlberg's lack of anything caustic as he kind of attempts to stay in step with their one up man ship in their weight training skills is even done with the this wide eyed smile. Wahlberg's performance is so aggressively wholesome that it really is just perfect as this contrast to the nature of the world they are in which is typically considered as far from traditionally wholesome as one typically considers.

Wahlberg's second phase is as Dirk Diggler becomes the star, which at first Wahlberg makes likable enough in still keeping the earnest energy about him as he comes across with big ideas and is very gracious with acceptance speech at the Adult Movie Awards. Wahlberg's performance remains hilarious though because there is this sense of delusion of grandeur in it, although still more endearing just as there's a complete lack of sense of reality in his delivery of describing his idea for a "James Bond" style porn series or attempting to make porn seem more than it is at every moment. This alludes though to the change of the following year once Dirk has become established and his ego has gone through the roof. Wahlberg remains hilarious though in portraying a man completely now driven by ego still with no true sense of self or most of reality. Wahlberg properly goes all in on this as he brings such a sincerity in his stupid pre-performance "kung fu" ritual or perhaps my favorite moments, the ones where Dirk discusses "the craft". There Wahlberg brings such a perfect kind of pompousness as he says a whole lot of nothing yet the key to this is there isn't a hint of doubt in his performance. It is all of someone who genuinely believes he's amazing, which in turn makes it hilarious as he's anything but. This is only exacerbated as he truly believes he can do no wrong even dismissing the always supportive Jack. A scene that Wahlberg portrays with the proper lack of depth showing someone just wholly controlled by ego in the moment, and every word of his bravado spoken as someone truly without thought. 

Really what we get then is the naturally logical follow through for Diggler as someone who believes he can do no wrong, therefore he can create "great" music, or should I really say magic. Scenes that are pure comic gold, thanks in part due to Wahlberg's musical performance, that is um...let's say not good in the traditional sense, but the most hilarious of bad singing one can witness. The key to it all though isn't just that he sings poorly, it is that Wahlberg sings poorly with just SO MUCH confidence. Now let's reverse back quickly as I'm written entirely about the comic qualities of Wahlberg's work, which is true, but to his credit, there is more than just a great comic turn here. There is behind everything that Diggler is, is the sad truth of a young man just looking for acceptance, which we initially see he gets none of from his verbally abusive mother. That scene, an outlier in tone early in the film, though I think effectively so, is the chief motivator. Wahlberg's terrific in the abusive scene actually because he still shows that same simplicity in Diggler even in this reaction, that is just of a straight forward heartbreak. What is actually rather powerful in this is that Wahlberg shows the questioning of his mom with that same earnestness but in distress as he can't understand his mother's cruelty. In turn though this gives easy understanding to the young man finding any acceptance he can, and in turn his relationship with Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), who likes to be everyone's mother, has this simple yet potent logic to it. With her Wahlberg shows someone just looking for the basic affection no more no less, not a complicated relationship but one honestly based on Diggler's pain. 

That dramatic note returns as Diggler falls on hard times away from Jack, and tries to make money any way he can, including prostituting himself. Wahlberg is amazing in the scene frankly as he shows just the intensity of the distress as Diggler cannot perform in any way, and shows the ego of Diggler lost as he all that confidence fades away. He becomes the young man berated by his mother again, which is only exacerbated by an anti-homosexual mob beating Diggler afterwards. Diggler falling to rock bottom leading to what is a scene that technically has a dramatic layer, but is still very funny, as Diggler goes along with Reed and their drug procuring "friend" Todd (Thomas Jane) to rob drug dealer Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina). Wahlberg's performance in this scene is just great in largely reactionary moments as you perhaps see the greatest depth in Diggler, as Wahlberg eyes finally convey this sense of realization in Diggler as he seems to finally notice how far he's fallen. Wahlberg's honestly great in portraying finally just a hint of depth in the thick mind of Diggler in a way that feels natural to the character we've been following all along. This leading only to Diggler to be able to finally reconcile with Jack, which Wahlberg performs back to showing the sweetness of the early Diggler, mixed in with the late Diggler now with a much stronger degree of modesty due to his hubris laden fall. Although Wahlberg would not go onto to be a great actor, this is a pitch perfect performance by Wahlberg. It is a marvelous comic turn built on a shallow character, however when depth is needed, Wahlberg is more than game to find it in this wonderful performance.