Review of Magnolia (1999) by Cj W — 27 Sep 2013

Magnolia is one of the most ambitious and well crafted films I have ever seen, and may very well be P.T. Anderson's best work to date. Although, There Will Be Blood is a modern classic and one of my favorite films of all time. But I think that Magnolia is his most personal work, it is the film where you see most clearly into the magnificent writer/director's mind and outlook on the world. The film depicts, like many of Anderson's films, famlial dysfunction, loneliness, and in the style of Ingmar Bergman, human isolation. However, he weaves this very complex and intricate screenplay into a coherent and poignant study of a world connected by chance and common human characteristics, but one in which people are incapable of any real human connection. Well everyone except children, who are the only selfless characters in the picture, but Anderson shows us.

how children lose that selflessness and innocence quickly in a world run by money and egotism. Anderson also utilizes constant camera motion to emphasize that this world is not a dull, monotonous world, but one that is constantly moving and in action. It is honestly, his most artistic and experimental film; he does not confine himself to the normal formulaic Hollywood story. The film also features a wonderful ensemble cast with remarkable performances from Cruise, Reilly, Hoffman, Moore, and Macy; many of Anderson's films have large ensemble casts of great actors, but his real gift is his ability to pull great performances out of them without them overshadowing anyone else, which is the sign of any great ensemble cast. This is a beautiful film, one of my favorites of the 90's, and a film everyone should watch.