Staring: Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Phillip Baker Hall, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Robards, Alfred Molina, Melora Walters, Michael Bowen, Jeremy Blackman, Luis Guzmán, Felicity Huffman, Raymond “Big Guy” Gonzalez, Craig Knivsland, Patricia Scanlon, Clark Gregg, Melinda Dillion

Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson

Run Time: 188 Mins

“And the book says, ‘We may be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.’ ”   

            Spoiler Alert           

To be honest with you anything that I write about Magnolia will not do this film justice. I’ll try my best, but this is one that you are going to have to see for yourself. Until yesterday, I had never seen Magnolia. Nothing could have prepared me for this. Magnolia is a masterpiece. After ten minutes I was totally blown away. It’s epic, extreme, and exhilarating, and that’s just the “e,” adjectives. I think that I am going to need a bigger thesaurus. 

            Summarizing Magnolia is nearly impossible. This is due to one of the largest ensembles ever. Let’s start with child prodigy and game show contestant Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman) who’s father Rick (Michael Bowen) pressures Stanley to win so that he can make money off of Stanley. Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall) is the game show host, who’s dying of cancer and fallen out with his cocaine addicted daughter (Melora Walters). Across town another man is dying of cancer, named Earl Partridge (Jason Robards). Every minute brings him closer to death as his wife Linda (Julianne Moore) and the nurse Phil (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) desperately try to keep him alive. Earl’s long lost son Frank T.J. Mackie (Tom Cruise) wants nothing to do with his birth father, and he run a program designed to help guys pick up women.  Other characters include Jim (John C. Reilly) a big-hearted and useless cop, former quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy), and Jimmy Gator’s wife Rose (Melinda Dillon). I know it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, (especially if they all walk into a bar) but trust me this will all make sense in the end.

            I don’t think that I have ever seen a film that moves as well as Magnolia does. The first ten minutes of this movie alone have nearly ever type of camera shot and transition known to man. This film has flying zooms; whip pans, supreme tilts, and brilliant smooth dollying. The opening twelve minutes gives you a feel for how the film is going to go. Some of my favorites include a whip pan to quiz kid Donnie Smith, a zoom into Julianne Moore in the car, the tilt and zoom to the “but it did happen,” painting, and the zoom out on the kiss. Magnolia feels so organic, as there are minimal special effects involved. It is pure camera work. That is what endeared me so much to Magnolia, the knowledge that all of the scenes are real. They actually filmed frogs falling into the pool. It brings a sense of charm to the film.

            What Magnolia is known for, is it’s development of characters. Each character somehow is developed in the three-hour time frame. You get a sense of what drives each character. I think what endears me to these characters so much is how plainly human they are, and how they are failures in life. Quiz Kid Donnie Smith is under the impression that braces will endear him to Brad the Bartender (Craig Knivsland). Both Earl and Linda cheated on each other, and they both have the inability to confess their unfaithfulness. Earl and Jimmy are parenting failures, the later having molested (it is implied) his daughter. Claudia is a cocaine addict; Rick is willing to sell anything to become famous (even his own son). Even Jim is the laughingstock of the entire police department. Each character has some sort of tragic flaw. The only character that I dislike is Stanley as I find his character to be too one-dimensional. I actually feel that Anderson’s frustrations with child actors are brought out in his character.

            One of my favorite characteristics of Magnolia is Anderson’s view on relationships. All of the characters seem to have poor relationships. Both Earl and Linda have cheated upon each other, and neither has the heart to tell the other about their infidelity. Jimmy sexually abused his daughter. These characters are only some of the relationships that don’t work in this film. It is funny because the person with the best view on relationships should be Claudia. After all she is a highly emotional cocaine addict, whose father molested her. Yet she has the best view on what a relationship should be. At one point she says “I’ll tell you everything, and you tell me everything, and maybe we can get through all of the piss and shit and lies that kill other people.” This is what is so interesting about Anderson’s relationships that they all break down because of a lack of communication. This line almost represents all of the relationships in this film. I believe this is one of Anderson’s best themes.

            My favorite scene from this film is the one from the bar with the Supertramp music. The music is such an interesting choice, as the songs sing of a man trying to find himself. This is exactly what Quiz Kid Donnie Smith is going through right now, an identity crisis. The conversation is so heated and the whole scene is so great. Other great scenes in this film include the falling frog scene, behind the scenes at the game show, the opening song, and Jim and Claudia’s date. Any scene in Magnolia could be great because there are so many shots that are incredible, and any of these shots could make a scene in any other movie.

            What Magnolia should be credited for the most is being an achievement in storytelling. Magnolia somehow manages to tale this of proportions this epic, interesting for three hours. The very definition of good storytelling is when twists and turns seem so obvious, but you miss them because you are so engaged in the events on screen. An example of this in Magnolia is that it is extremely obvious that her father has molested Claudia, but the viewer misses the hints because the events on screen are so engrossing. Another example is Quiz Kid Donnie Smiths love for Brad the Bartender. It is the little details that change these scenes. For example when Donnie Smith talks to the cocktail waitress (Patricia Scanlon) there is a canted angle. The shot that draw the eye to Brad the Bartender’s braces, an object, which the straight teethed Quiz Kid Donnie Smith is trying to acquire. In Claudia’s case, there are the mentions of abusive relationships from Jim, and that Claudia has a troubled life. Magnolia manages to hide its twists, while making them surprisingly obvious at the same time. That is truly the definition of good storytelling.

            If I have to say that I disliked anything, I would say that I disagreed with the necessity of the profanity in Magnolia. This is probably the fairest criticism in Magnolia. The profanity is not really cute, like in Pulp Fiction, or really necessary. It’s just unnecessary, all of the other criticisms all bullshit. Its long, so what? It’s highly melodramatic, so what? The does what a lot of films fail to do; it tells a brilliant story. Anyone who gives this highly artistic film a chance, has a chance to love it like I did.            

Final Opinions

Magnolia changed my life, and how I viewed film. This might very well be the best movie I have ever seen. What I love about Magnolia is how brilliant a lot of the shots are. I would point out the steady cam that moves from Julianne Moore in the car to Quiz Kid Donnie Smith in his car. Magnolia is an exercise in brilliant storytelling. It is truly a Movie to see before you die. 10/10

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