New Line Cinema | 1999 | 188 mins. | Rated R
It’s often been said that every filmmaker dreams of creating an opus; that one film that encompasses something important they want to say, and impresses audiences at the same time. Rarely does this happen at twenty-nine. It was clear almost from the start of his career that writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, similar to Orson Welles before him, was going to break that mold. His 1996 debut, Hard Eight, wasn’t a hit, but it was a sign that the then twenty-six-year-old auteur was going to be a force to be reckoned with; a year later came Boogie Nights, a film that many felt (me included), was the best picture of the year. 1999 saw the release of Magnolia, a film vast in scope and heavy with meaning.
Running more than three hours, Magnolia is the tale of several interconnected characters going through different life changing traumas over a twenty-four-hour period. The title derives from an intersection in the heart of the San Fernando Valley of California. The film has a story of sorts, but that element is secondary. The focus is intimacy and isolation, forces that collide in a number of ways, but also converge from time to time; bringing a measure of grace that redeems and repairs us. Anderson’s approach to these characters and their stories is fascinating and daring. The settings are realistic, but the overall tone is surreal and often absurd. Anderson is less concerned with the particulars of what happens to these characters than he is with what’s happening inside of them. Each individual’s story is a variation on his primary thematic hook: pain evolving into dread evolving into panic evolving into anguished acceptance.
Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is a terminally ill man desperately wanting to reconnect with his estranged son. Ravaged by cancer and confined to his bed, Earl slips in and out of consciousness, but still manages to say what he needs to. Fortunately for him, his nurse Phil (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a good listener, and a genuinely compassionate soul. Phil dedicates his day to tracking down Earl’s son, Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise). Frank, a motivational speaker, hosts a seminar called “Search and Destroy” that bluntly teaches men how to pick up as many women as possible. Slightly removed from the race to find Frank, is Earl’s much younger wife Linda (Julianne Moore), who spends the bulk of her day collecting medications, and consulting doctors on Earl’s condition as well as her own.
Elsewhere, host Jimmy Gator is getting ready for yet another episode of “What Do Kids Know?”—to which other characters tune in at various points in the film—Run by Earl’s production company, Jimmy has been the host for thirty-three years. Diagnosed with cancer and given only weeks to live, Jimmy attempts to reconcile with his daughter Claudia (Melora Waters), who rebuffs his attempts. His wife (Melinda Dillon) begins to be suspicious as to the reasons why. Ten-year-old genius Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is reluctantly gearing up for a big quiz show showdown. He destined to become reigning champion, but if all this attention and glory was once fun for him, it has since lost his appeal. He feels used and unappreciated by his father, who pushes him too hard.
While her father seems to have it together, Claudia is a total mess. Scarcely able to function, she spends the day snorting cocaine. A ray of sunshine comes into her life in the form of Jim (John C. Reilly), a dedicated, if bumbling cop who actually treats her like a real person. John is just as passionate about his job as Phil, and he strives constantly to make people’s lives better, evaluating each case carefully to determine whether the person at fault is truly a danger to society. During his rounds, he encounters Dixon (Emmanuel Johnson), a street-wise kid who later intersects with Linda at an opportune moment, and Donnie Williams (William H. Macy), who used to be in Stanley’s position and now is a washed-up train wreck of a man, bitter about his exploited childhood but longing for a fresh start in life.
Each character experiences a crisis during these twenty-four hours: Officer Jim loses his gun while chasing a suspect, Frank stumbles through his seminar after hearing that his father is dying, and Stanley wets his pants. Further, each character reaches a breaking point simultaneously when their past fears, and egos are put aside. At their lowest and most vulnerable moment, each character sings a few lines of Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up” (It’s not going to stop, so just give up).
In the end, Anderson strips each of the characters down, forcing them to realizing that all people need some basic things to survive in this world: to be loved, respected and heard; everything else is just gravy.
As with many recent Warner Bros. Blu-ray releases, Magnolia’s 2.40:1 1080p transfer is impressive. While colors are vibrant and rich, bleeding is never an issue. Black levels are consistent and inky without resorting to noise, and there is no edge enhancement to mention. Compression artifacting is also nonexistent, and detail is presented nicely throughout. I noticed a thin layer of grain, but that only serves to give the movie a nice filmic quality.
The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is barely noticeable until the rain of frogs; until then it contents itself with replicating dialogue smoothly, with a realistic musical bloom in the surrounds. For the most part, the bass, treble, and dynamics are modest, which works in a film like this.
An English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is included, as are a Spanish 2.0 track, and English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
The vast majority of special features that were included on the film’s 2-DVD special edition have been ported over here, all of them in standard definition.
• The director’s “Video Diary (72 mins.) Director Anderson and many of his stars comment on the film, much of it while they’re shooting it.
• Frank T.J. Mackey Seminar (4:00)
• “Seduce and Destroy” Infomercial (1:50 mins)
• Music video: “Save Me,” by Aimee Mann
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Nine Television Spots
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