MAGNOLIA (1999) / ****
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Screenplay by Anderson. Starring Philip Baker Hall, Jason Robards, Tom Cruise. Running time: 188 minutes. Rated R for offensive language (MFCB). Reviewed on March 20th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
I am almost surprised to find myself reviewing "Magnolia", two months after viewing the film. But although I have seen several movies in the intervening weeks, the images of "Magnolia" have remained strong in my mind, and so here I sit at my keyboard. This is not to say that "Magnolia" is a perfect film; in some respects, it is deeply flawed. But it is one of those movies which demands to be viewed, contemplated, remembered, even if the verdict is not entirely positive.
"Magnolia" is the brainchild of Paul Thomas Anderson, and is a sequel of sorts to his "Boogie Nights", featuring many of the same cast and crew. Some critics have reviewed "Magnolia" on this basis, but I have not seen "Boogie Nights" (yet) and would prefer to discuss "Magnolia" on its own merits anyhow.
"Magnolia" tells the stories of several people on one day in California. Jim Kurring (John C Reilly) is a police officer who is well-meaning but sometimes too earnest. On a routine call, he meets drug-addled Claudia (Melora Walters). Claudia's father is popular game show host Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), who has recently learned he is dying and must now break the truth of his sordid private life to wife Rose (Melinda Dillon). The current star of Gator's quiz show is young Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman), both encouraged and terrorized by his father Rick (Michael Bowen). Stanley has raised the spectre of the legendary "Quiz Kid" Donnie Smith (William H Macy). Smith became famous on Gator's show, but has fallen on hard times as an adult and is now contemplating crime.
Meanwhile, Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise) is a "motivational" speaker who teaches men how to seduce women. Mackey's estranged father is rich TV producer Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), now on his deathbed in almost constant pain. Partridge is cared for by nurse Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who desperately wants to reunite father and son before Earl's imminent demise. Partridge's much younger wife is Linda (Julianne Moore), who married him for his money but has grown to love him, and does not know how to deal with his death.
There are a number of themes competing for attention in "Magnolia". The most obvious is that Strange Things Happen, introduced in three amusing opening vignettes. The movie, obviously, is awash with coincidence and happenstance, as characters from otherwise unrelated plot threads cross each other's paths. This theme is almost comically illustrated at two points in the film's second half: once when all the characters begin singing along to the excellent Aimee Mann soundtrack, and once shortly thereafter when a totally unanticipated event occurs. It would be criminal of me to reveal the controversial details of the latter, but suffice it to say that it is presaged by a few carefully-planted clues in the film itself (not to mention the prologue), and does not feel at all out of place within "Magnolia"'s narrative framework. If the first event is the calm before the storm, the second is the storm itself; together they pave the way for the events that form the movie's conclusion.
While this in of itself would be the basis for an intriguing movie, and is certainly the fulcrum upon which "Magnolia" turns, there is a lot more going on. The struggle between fathers and children crops up often: between Hall and Walters, Robards and Cruise, Bowen and Blackman. Events have conspired to force each pair to confront their relationship, in one way or another, whether they want to or not.
Both Robards and Hall are dying. Both Moore and Walters wrestle with substance abuse. Both the Robards/Moore and Hall/Dillon marriages are built on a foundation of lies. Both Parma and Reilly are caregivers flailing in the face of their own impotence. Both Walters and Macy are looking for someone to take care of them. Macy has already suffered from the false glamour of childhood fame; now it looks as though Blackman may endure the same fate.
Even at over three hours, "Magnolia" is bursting with material, throwing so much at the viewer it is hard to get bored. But this is both its blessing and its curse: Anderson puts so much into the movie that some things get lost in the shuffle. It is difficult to tell if the movie really comes together, or just amounts to a lot of sound and fury. Early on, for example, Reilly investigates a murder which never gets resolved. Sure, it's not integral to the movie (Reilly's scenes with Dillon and Macy are much more important), but so much is made of it early on that ignoring it makes "Magnolia" feel incomplete. And a few of the subplots just don't feel as well-developed as others. Blackman and Bowen's relationship, in particular, gets short shrift compared to some of the other stories. It is ironic that, for such a long movie, one of the dominant feelings I was left with afterward was of wanting more. But maybe that isn't necessarily such a bad thing, either.
The large cast mainly rises to the quality of Anderson's script. Cruise's Oscar-nominated performance has gotten the most attention, and not undeservedly. Here he turns his public persona on its head in a role which matches "Eyes Wide Shut" for how deeply it plumbs. Also excellent is Hoffman, quiet yet passionate as Phil Parma. Really, only Moore disappoints, with a performance that can best be described as shrill. Although by no means bad, she does exhibit the skill shown in "The End of the Affair" and "An Ideal Husband".
"Magnolia" is a rarity in today's Hollywood: a film honestly deserving of the term 'epic'. Brilliantly acted, richly scripted, tantalizingly directed, it more than overcomes its flaws and proves to be a truly singular filmgoing experience. It is little wonder it has stayed so fresh in my mind so long; would that I could say the same about more movies.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/Magnolia.html
-- _______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | | are looking at the stars." | \ shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca | -- Oscar Wilde /
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