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 & 54 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

Official Sites:

New Line

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

7 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mag·no'li·a

Filming Locations:

Angelus Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$193,604, 19 December 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$22,455,976

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,995,827

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

When Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly) loses his gun, a person wearing a hooded jacket appears very briefly. It is actor Orlando Jones, whose scenes were left on the cutting room floor.

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Goofs

The blood on Kurring's forehead changes at the end of the movie.

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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

Underneath the title at the end a line reads "for fa and ea". fa is Fiona Apple (Paul Thomas Anderson's girlfriend) ea is Ernie Anderson (Paul Thomas Anderson's father)

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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

Referenced in An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002)

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Soundtracks

Save Me
Written by Aimee Mann
Performed by Aimee Mann
Produced by Aimee Mann

User Reviews

Crap...with Potential

I am disturbed by any video rental that takes up two tapes. Without exception, any time I watch a double-taper, I find myself praying for the end.

This movie had some serious potential. From what I could gather, it's about coincidences (or what we believe to be coincidences).

It starts out with a really interesting story about a suicide/murder. We get a glimpse into the lives of several pathetic, annoying people. A child genius pees his pants on live TV, Tom Cruise (sporting some kind of greasy Samurai hairdo) screams about respecting the male genitalia, Bill Macy fantasizes about a guy with braces, and just when you think it might all be coming to some kind of logical, blissful "tie-it-all-together" ending, IT STARTS RAINING FROGS.

On a positive note, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly both gave OUTSTANDING performances. They were why I stayed with the movie throughout the painful three hours.

Ultimately, I hated this movie. Nobody in the movie was better off at the end than the were in the beginning, and there was no...RESOLUTION. Maybe it was meant to be mind candy for people who love to dwell on the deep meanings of things...or maybe it really is as bad as I think it is. I just can't believe that IMDB has it listed as #50-something on the Top 250 Movies list. That's what prompted this tirade, after all. Who are these people who thought so highly of this film, and what planet are they from???