Magnolia Review
by James Brundage (filmcritic_2000 AT yahoo DOT com)December 28th, 1999
Magnolia (1999, R)
Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Jeremy Blackman, Michael Bowen, William H. Macy, Phillip Baker Hall, and Melinda Dillon
As Reviewed by James Brundage
In the spring of 1999, a whale beached itself on the shores of sunny California. The whale was dead as a doornail... there was nothing anyone could do about that. The question became this: what do we do with its body. The State Troopers were in charge of this, and they decided that the best thing to do would be to blow it up. The event was naturally something that the media decides to drop by for. In fact, not only are the TV crews there, but everyone is there. So the State Troopers, they rig this big tub of blubber with several tons of TNT, and wire it to blow.
They blow up the whale. Everyone cheers...
… and then the fit hits the shan.
Huge pieces of whale fat are flying through the air. It's pandemonium. People are running for their lives. The fat is so big, that one piece crushes a nearby Volkswagen.
This is the kind of material you should expect going into Magnolia.
Although no whales fly through the air, another animal (in both the funniest and most bizarre sequence I have seen all year) does. You see, in Magnolia, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson would like us to believe that this kind of thing happens all of the time.
The film Magnolia can be described as a series of loosely interlocked narratives that demonstrate how utterly surreal life is. In Magnolia, we have 12 main characters and 9 interlocking stories. These stories all play themselves out over a 24-hour period in the San Fernando Valley.
For those of you who immediately think Short Cuts when I mention this, please don't. There are two major differences. The first is that Short Cuts took place over a weekend. The second is that Short Cuts was boring and drawn out. Magnolia is as quick and funny and touching as the stories it tells.
Anderson handles his film with a steady hand that this promises to be his best film ever… despite its three hour running time. It also promises to be his most bizarre… and this is talking about the guy who directed Hard Eight and Boogie Nights.
Magnolia features several completely odd sequences an moments, the first of which is a football-play-like description of a suicide-turned-homicide (a man jumps off a roof, only to be shot in the chest on the way down.). The second bizarre sequence is when every different character of the film sings along to the same song, despite the fact that the song is not playing on any radio and the characters are all in different locations. The third is the crowning achievement of the film, a series of moments that I cannot adequately describe nor convey the greatness of. To say one thing about the film though, it is the oddest thing I have seen all year and it kept me up until 3:00 AM thinking about it.
The largest question with the ensemble cast of Magnolia is this: to whom will the academy awards go to. Nearly every actor and actress in the film deserves an award for his or her work. Basing my predictions on the love of the Academy for over-the-top performance, I predict a nomination for Tom Cruise, who plays a man who makes his money off of a program called "Seduce and Destroy." To imagine the character, picture Fight Club's Tyler Durden when he's really horny. Also, begging for an award is Julianne Moore, who has already garnered two Golden-Globe nominations for her works in The End of the Affair and An Ideal Husband. Moore plays a woman who has fallen in love with the rich millionaire who she married for money… right while the man is on his deathbed.
The only thing that Magnolia has to its discredit are the speeches that Anderson placed in the film. Every time that one character opens his mouth, be ready for a five-minute talk, because sooner or later, that's what you'll get.
As always, my top five fills up fast come December, and this film takes Eyes Wide Shut's place as the second-best film of the year. It trails right after American Beauty, by the length of a pin.
------------------------------------------------------- James Brundage
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