Magnolia (1999)

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 55 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pat Healy	...	Sir Edmund William Godfrey / Young Pharmacy Kid
Genevieve Zweig	...	Mrs. Godfrey
Mark Flanagan	...	Joseph Green (as Mark Flannagan)
Neil Flynn	...	Stanley Berry
Rod McLachlan	...	Daniel Hill
Allan Graf	...	Firefighter
Patton Oswalt	...	Delmer Darion
Raymond 'Big Guy' Gonzales	...	Reno Security Guard
Brad Hunt	...	Craig Hansen
Jim Meskimen	...	Forensic Scientist
Chris O'Hara	...	Sydney Barringer
Clement Blake	...	Arthur Barringer
Frank Elmore	...	1958 Detective
John Kraft Seitz	...	1958 Policeman
Cory Buck	...	Young Boy

Storyline

24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations. The weather, too, is quirky.

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Plot Keywords:

coincidence | abusive father | fictional game show | fictional quiz show | multiple storyline | 

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Taglines:

Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, drug use, sexuality and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

7 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mag·no'li·a

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$193,604, 19 December 1999

Gross USA:

$22,455,976

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,451,803

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ghoulardi Film Company, New Line Cinema, The Magnolia Project

Technical Specs

Runtime:

188 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Thomas Anderson is the son of former ABC-TV announcer Ernie Anderson, who started his career as a Cleveland late-night monster-movie host named "Ghoulardi". Paul Thomas Anderson's production company is called Ghoulardi Pictures. One running Ghoulardi gag was to make fun of Parma, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb known for its Polish population. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character is named Phil Parma. One of Ghoulardi's catch phrases was "Stay sick!" When Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) remarks to Thurston Howell (Henry Gibson) that he is sick, Thurston replies, "Stay that way."

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Goofs

Shadow moving on the wall behind Frank Mackey as he sits down beside Earl's deathbed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: In the New York Herald, November 26, year 1911, there is an account of the hanging of three men. They died for the murder of Sir Edmund William Godfrey; Husband, Father, Pharmacist and all around gentle-man resident of: Greenberry Hill, London. He was murdered by three vagrants whose motive was simple robbery. They were identified as: Joseph Green, Stanley Berry, and Daniel Hill. Green, Berry, Hill. And I Would Like To Think This was Only A Matter Of Chance. As reported in the Reno...

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Crazy Credits

As the credit for Robert Downey Sr. scrolls up the screen, the words "(a prince)" appear next to his name.

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Alternate Versions

In the script, there is an alternate storyline for Stanley. In it, instead of running to the school library where he reads the books about the geniuses, he runs away to a coffee shop. Also in the coffee shop are Dixon (the little boy who raps for Jim Curring) and the Worm (who is mentioned in the movie, both in the rap and during Marcie's interrogation). The Worm (who is Dixon's father) notices Stanley and motions for Dixon to leave. At this point, Dixon finds Linda passed out in her car. In the coffee shop, the Worm and Stanley talk about their fathers and Stanley offers to give the Worm the money he won on the game show. The frogs begin to fall from the sky as Dixon runs in, asks the Worm if he got the money from Stanley, then pulls a gun (the one which he stole from Jim Kurring) on Stanley, demanding his money. The Worm convinces Dixon to give the gun up. They leave the diner after the frogs fall, drive by Solomon and Solomon, and throw the gun from their speeding car, which lands by Jim and Donnie. From the DVD documentary, it seems like this scene was partially filmed and then PT Anderson decided to scrap it.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Knight and Day/I Am Love/The Killer Inside Me (2010)

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Soundtracks

Hungarian Dance No. 6
(uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms
Performed by New World Harmonica Trio

User Reviews

Pretentious, incongruous, and simply boring.

I saw Boogie Nights before Magnolia, so I was obviously excited about this film. Three hours later, I found that my excitement had turned to boredom.

This film's major flaw is the characters. None of them are 3-dimensional and we really have no reason to care for any of them. They simply exist to go through random occurrences for the sake of randomness. None of them are given anything exciting to do, and none of them are nearly as developed as they should be. In fact, some of the characters don't even serve a purpose in the film at all! Julianne Moore's character is the prime suspect of that crime. She's addicted to drugs, cries over her dying husband, and tries to kill herself. And somehow, we're supposed to feel sorry for her. Guess what? Doesn't work. We are given no REASON to feel sorry for her. We are never given any reason to feel sorry for ANOBODY in this movie. They are simply there. They do things and that is it. Seriously, why the hell am I supposed to give a damn if some know-it-all brat pisses his pants?

The beginning of this film showed promise. In an over-long opening sequence, three urban legends are examined for their mysterious coincidences. But sadly, there is nothing even remotely as bizarre or exciting in the actual movie. People meet other people and that's the extent of it.

Speaking of people, let's take a look at some of the characters:

There's some kid who pisses his pants, a dying old man and his overly emotional male nurse, the old man's wife who does nothing, a cop (the most interesting character, mostly because of John C. Reilly), a drug addict (not the old man's wife, a different drug addict), the guy played poorly by Tom Cruise (unsure of his official title), a gay man who wants to get braces to impress a bartender (what?!), and many more.

Instead of actually having any reason to care about these character's unhappy lives, we are TOLD to care. Doesn't work.

Cinematically speaking, this film is actually well-directed, edited, the cinematography is great, but the music is over-used. The film could also be shortened by about a half hour by simply not following around unimportant character from place to place before they vanish and are never to be seen or heard from again. What a total waste.

If you actually believe that this film is original at all, just watch Short Cuts and you'll see the truth. Magnolia is a rip-off. A bad one where everyone has to cry every 5 minutes and sing together at the end before something totally outrageous happens for no reason at all and with no explanation.

And speaking of Exodus 8:2, you will notice a lot of 8's and 2's in the film. Thing is, it's too overt. It's pretentious because Anderson is showing people how clever he is instead of actually being clever and letting people see it on their own. I'll even give an example of this whole "cleevrness with numbers" deal with THE SHINING:

Danny wears a jersey with number 42 Danny and his mom watch the movie Summer of 42 Half of 42 is 21 There are 21 pictures on the Gold Room wall The July 4th Ball was in 1921 The mirror image of 21 is 12 (mirrors play a key role in The Shining) The two times shown via screen titles are 8 PM and 4 PM (8+4=12) The radio call sign for the Overlook Hotel is KDK 12

Anderson has a lot to learn.