Magnolia
"Magnolia", with Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, John C. Reilly and about six hundred other people. Written and directed by Paul Thomas (P.T.) Anderson. MPAA Rating R for sexuality, language, violence, language, drug use and more language. Run time, right at three hours. I said THREE hours.
Watching "Magnolia" is like watching a year's worth of moovies at one time. There's simply so much here to see. It would be a waste of my time and yours to even attempt to outline the plot(s), much less explain what you'll feel after you've seen it all unfold. In fact, I think you'll find it doesn't so much unfold, but rather undulates, like giant waves on an ocean crowded with boats. At the crest of one wave, you briefly see a catamaran, but as the next wave swells, the cat drops from sight, and you catch a glimpse of a cruiser; it drops away, and a skiff pops into view. As you watch this repeat itself over and over, you start to understand that all the boats are tied together somehow, and that the entire crew on the first boat somehow knows everyone on every other boat. A weak analogy, but not the worst I could have come up with. These connections are the fabric pieces that P.T. Anderson and crew use to sew together a dynamically quilted story.
I've tried three times to write some sort of synopsis of this moovie, and I finally decided that it doesn't work in the two dimensions allotted to words. It is truly three dimensional. The stories of the people's lives are so completely entwined, that it just takes a while to let things spiral in slowly, to converge naturally. If you're in a hurry, or like your moovies happy, prepackaged and tidy, see if Blockbuster has a copy of "The Sound of Music" gathering dust somewhere. Otherwise, prepare for the long haul - "I told you to go before we left!" - and sit this one out for the three hours it takes to fully describe the entangled lives of the players.
"Magnolia" is powerful film making, even if not necessarily created for the unwashed masses. It is gritty and profane, thick-skinned and jaded, but also innocent, trusting and optimistic. I don't know (nor do I care) how the Academy will see "Magnolia", but I think there are some award-worthy performances on board:
Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in a subtle and touching portrayal of Phil Parma, a home nurse attending to dying quiz-show producer Earl Partridge (Jason Robards). Parma sticks his neck out to help Partridge connect to his estranged son, Frank T.J. Mackey, (Tom Cruise) an infomercially enabled misogynistic quarterback who makes his millions teaching the American everyman to be a shallow, predatory sexual player. The range of desperate emotions expressed by Partridge's wife Linda (Julianne Moore) as she comes to terms with her relationship with her dying husband has to be seen to be believed. John C. Reilly plays officer Jim Kurring, the Earnest and Naive Cop, who truly believes that he can help make the world a better place. He finds himself in a blindly optimistic and wholly unlikely romantic involvement with Claudia Wilson Gator, (Melora Walters), cocaine-addicted estranged daughter of quiz kid game show host/institution Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall). William H. Macy is "Donny Smith, Quiz Kid", a once-famous child prodigy from Gator's show, who in harder times has turned his fame to hawking furniture on TV. This list is, by no means, exhaustive. There are excellent performances at every turn.
Large credit for "Magnolia"'s continuity in the face of a chaotic and scrambled story, goes to Aimiee Mann's contributions to the haunting and sweet/sour soundtrack. At the point where "Magnolia" teeters and pivots toward resolution (sort of) Mann's "Wise Up" becomes the anthem for every major character in the film, and they all sing along. I mean they actually all sing along. This device, along with an ending straight out of Exodus, brings the cast into focus as flawed, fragile humans all looking for one basic salvation: forgiveness.
You may not like "Magnolia". You may HATE "Magnolia". You may, however, find that "Magnolia" gives you a chance to look at moovies in a new way, much the same as "Being John Malkovich" or "American Beauty" did. I hope this signals the beginning of a trend, a new order of moovies that don't do the thinking for you, but that allow you to observe and try to understand things you would never have the opportunity to see any other way. Yes I realize that this is exactly the same function as "The National Geographic", but I think that like the magazine, a moovie that allows you to make up your own mind is much more valuable than a library full of one sided parable-ridden morality plays.
Me? I think "Magnolia" deserving of your attention, regardless of your sensibilities. A little shakeup might be good for all of us now and then. My cows think so too, all four of them. Forgive them.
Watching "Magnolia" is like watching a year's worth of moovies at one time. There's simply so much here to see. It would be a waste of my time and yours to even attempt to outline the plot(s), much less explain what you'll feel after you've seen it all unfold. In fact, I think you'll find it doesn't so much unfold, but rather undulates, like giant waves on an ocean crowded with boats. At the crest of one wave, you briefly see a catamaran, but as the next wave swells, the cat drops from sight, and you catch a glimpse of a cruiser; it drops away, and a skiff pops into view. As you watch this repeat itself over and over, you start to understand that all the boats are tied together somehow, and that the entire crew on the first boat somehow knows everyone on every other boat. A weak analogy, but not the worst I could have come up with. These connections are the fabric pieces that P.T. Anderson and crew use to sew together a dynamically quilted story.
I've tried three times to write some sort of synopsis of this moovie, and I finally decided that it doesn't work in the two dimensions allotted to words. It is truly three dimensional. The stories of the people's lives are so completely entwined, that it just takes a while to let things spiral in slowly, to converge naturally. If you're in a hurry, or like your moovies happy, prepackaged and tidy, see if Blockbuster has a copy of "The Sound of Music" gathering dust somewhere. Otherwise, prepare for the long haul - "I told you to go before we left!" - and sit this one out for the three hours it takes to fully describe the entangled lives of the players.
"Magnolia" is powerful film making, even if not necessarily created for the unwashed masses. It is gritty and profane, thick-skinned and jaded, but also innocent, trusting and optimistic. I don't know (nor do I care) how the Academy will see "Magnolia", but I think there are some award-worthy performances on board:
Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in a subtle and touching portrayal of Phil Parma, a home nurse attending to dying quiz-show producer Earl Partridge (Jason Robards). Parma sticks his neck out to help Partridge connect to his estranged son, Frank T.J. Mackey, (Tom Cruise) an infomercially enabled misogynistic quarterback who makes his millions teaching the American everyman to be a shallow, predatory sexual player. The range of desperate emotions expressed by Partridge's wife Linda (Julianne Moore) as she comes to terms with her relationship with her dying husband has to be seen to be believed. John C. Reilly plays officer Jim Kurring, the Earnest and Naive Cop, who truly believes that he can help make the world a better place. He finds himself in a blindly optimistic and wholly unlikely romantic involvement with Claudia Wilson Gator, (Melora Walters), cocaine-addicted estranged daughter of quiz kid game show host/institution Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall). William H. Macy is "Donny Smith, Quiz Kid", a once-famous child prodigy from Gator's show, who in harder times has turned his fame to hawking furniture on TV. This list is, by no means, exhaustive. There are excellent performances at every turn.
Large credit for "Magnolia"'s continuity in the face of a chaotic and scrambled story, goes to Aimiee Mann's contributions to the haunting and sweet/sour soundtrack. At the point where "Magnolia" teeters and pivots toward resolution (sort of) Mann's "Wise Up" becomes the anthem for every major character in the film, and they all sing along. I mean they actually all sing along. This device, along with an ending straight out of Exodus, brings the cast into focus as flawed, fragile humans all looking for one basic salvation: forgiveness.
You may not like "Magnolia". You may HATE "Magnolia". You may, however, find that "Magnolia" gives you a chance to look at moovies in a new way, much the same as "Being John Malkovich" or "American Beauty" did. I hope this signals the beginning of a trend, a new order of moovies that don't do the thinking for you, but that allow you to observe and try to understand things you would never have the opportunity to see any other way. Yes I realize that this is exactly the same function as "The National Geographic", but I think that like the magazine, a moovie that allows you to make up your own mind is much more valuable than a library full of one sided parable-ridden morality plays.
Me? I think "Magnolia" deserving of your attention, regardless of your sensibilities. A little shakeup might be good for all of us now and then. My cows think so too, all four of them. Forgive them.