Review of Magnolia (1999) by Gregory G — 06 Mar 2011

In 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson had a huge critical success with his second movie "Boogie Nights" and he was anointed the next big thing as a filmmaker. Two years later Anderson took even more risks with his next feature "Magnolia".

Its the kind of work of colossal ambition that only the most daring of artists even attempts. After an opening prologue that sets up a series of random events that become connected, establishing one of the main themes of the movie, Anderson sets the movie over the course of one day in the San Fernando Valley as the lives of a dozen or so people intersect.

This is a movie about family bonds that have been fractured expressing loneliness, forgiveness, and regret. Children are resentful of their neglectful parents and the movie explores how some of these wounds become mended and others do not.

Novelistic in detail, there are characters whose lives parallel others and some that only connect randomly. The construction of "Magnolia" is so thematically and emotionally complex that it becomes operatic as it builds in a crescendo.

Individual scenes feel like arias - particularly in the audacious sequence when all of the characters break out in song to Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" with each character singing a passage and then is picked up and continued by another.

All of this leads to an apocalyptic, biblical ending that is carefully prepared for and as bold as everything else before it. The movie runs three hours long but never lags. Anderson put together an astonishing cast and gave the actors the freedom to each perform a theatrical monologue.

There is no lead role and everyone stands out. The cast includes Tom Cruise, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, Melinda Dillon, Jeremy Blackman, Michael Bowen, Henry Gibson, Felicity Huffman, Ricky Jay, Alfred Molina, April Grace, Luis Guzman as himself, and Jason Robards in his final role.

Anderson also wrote the script. Aimee Mann wrote and performed the memorable 8 songs which comment on the characters' lives.