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Cast: Jason Robards, Philip Baker Hall, Tom Cruise, John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeremy Blackman, Melinda Dillon
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Producer: Joanne Sellar
Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Music: Jon Brion (songs by Aimee Mann)
UK Distributor: New Line Cinema
As with Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), Paul Thomas Anderson's latest movie stars Julianne Moore and is an ensemble drama featuring a host of eclectic characters that may, or may not, be related.
Among them is Tom Cruise as a sex guru, William H Macy as a has been quiz kid, Julianne Moore as the adulterous wife to a dying man; the bed-ridden protagonist's male nurse; a brainy kid who refuses to be part of the shallow world of a long-running quiz show; the show's host; a junkie and her religious cop suitor and may other secondary characters whose lives weave in and out of this ambitious storyline.
The movie opens with a string of bizarre but true occurences, including the urban myth of a scuba diver who was apparently in the water when a fire fighting plane scooped up gallons of water to extinguish a forest blaze; his lifeless body was later found in the treetops and the pilot who inadvertently placed him there had met the poor soul a few days earlier.
For the next three hours we are treated to sprawling tales of everyday life, love, hope, shattered dreams and infideltities along with some mesmerising performances from the likes of Tom Cruise, the aforementioned Moore and the brilliant as ever William H Macy, the big screen's loveable loser who doesn't fail to fall victim to another series of disasters in this movie.
Inevitably, with so many characters, the film starts off at a cracking pace with about 10 main protagonists introduced within the space of 10 minutes, music forever present as the talke unfolds.
The second act involves and awful lot of crying and Oscar-worthy moments as truths are revealed and characters turn out to be less than perfect.
By the third act, things start to make a lot more sense when a natural phenomenon makes most of the snivelling character realise that their own petty problems really aren't that important compared to the bizarre complexities that fate and life have to offer.
Thankfully, I knew nothing about the movie on going in and was grateful for such blissful ignorance. When the phenomenon does occur, it was shocking, original and refreshing.
However, by the time the movie finishes, I never really felt moved or stunned by any of the main characters. Most of them are so consumed by their own problems as to be that interesting.
Magnolia is like one of those guitar solos that is technically very clever and accomplished but straddles a fine line between art and self indulgence. With an hour trimmed from the final movie, this would have been a far more interesting movie instead of just three hours of crying and dying.
© 2000 Roger Crow <
