Review of Magnolia (2 Discs)

Introduction

How does one follow up a movie as exhilarating and ingenious as ‘Boogie Nights’? In this reviewer’s opinion, curling up and dying is pretty much the only way of securing that a grievous disappointment will not be made and the hard-whored cash of a movie studio not squandered. However, unsurprisingly, this view isn’t shared by Paul Thomas Anderson, who either by ambition or foolhardiness (or both) decided on an even bigger, bolder and more ambitious project than that spunky porn saga.

The resulting film, ‘Magnolia’ a sprawling, intense modern melodrama set in a Los Angeles suburb, failed to set the world on fire despite the presence of superstar Tom Cruise as one of a dozen ensemble cast members. It was nonetheless a hit with the critics, who, in 1999, decided to lay down the red carpet to any film that had anything even resembling a jump-cut or elliptical narrative under the guise of a pre-millennial cinematic revolution… they were wrong.

Video

Rich, anamorphic 2.35:1. The image has superb detail and contrast, especially given the darkness of the photography.

Audio

Take your pick from a standard Dolby Digital stereo or a brilliant 5.1surround track and give your sound system an elegant workout courtesy of Jon Brion’s layered score.

Features

Spectacular 75 minute documentary on Disc Two, that is so good it almost negates the need for a commentary track (but not quite). Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson makes his presence felt, and if you thought he was a rabid, egotistical, lugubrious, foul-mouthed duracell bunny before, you’ll definitely know it by the end of this documentary. Full of quirky little vignettes and unashamedly honest insider-paranoia (“How much money is this movie gonna make?!”, “A dollar!”) It’s probably the best ‘Making Of’ movie documentary since the through-the-looking-glass elegance of ‘Battle for Brazil’. In fact, Mark Rantz “That Moment” documentary almost gives the entire idea of making of docos a sole reason for existing. The freakishly obsessive, disembodied self-fixation of a anxiety-ridden ‘auteur’ has never come across so endearingly. It’s also loaded with some much needed humor: having just boasted to William H. Macy about having made both the trailer and the poster for the film, PT Anderson walks off only to be castigated by Macy: “Do you know he ground the lenses on this film”. The highlight? Anderson’s girlfriend singer-songwriter Fiona Apple pretending to be the physical embodiment of “Magnolia”, dancing a jig and being melodramatically attacked by her irate audience (Anderson himself) “You’re embarrassing us!… You’re too f***ing long, there’s too many blow-outs… you’re just too f***ing… too”. Sublime.

The rest of the extras fail to reach these squeamishly entertaining heights, but are definitely worth a look: A clutch of TV ads and trailers, which do a good job is illustrating what a hard sell this movie was going to be. A deleted scene featuring Tom Cruise’s Frank TJ Mackey is mildly amusing, but a bit of a slap in the face given all the rest of the stuff that was cut out that we don’t get to see. There’s a sweet Aimee Mann music video that rounds off a very satisfying package, or does it? Check out the colour bars for some hilarious hidden outtakes: John C. Rielly mooning to a Mann song? You better believe it.

Conclusion

In all honesty, in an era of cowardly, alienating, committee-made Hollywood fodder, it’s hard not to warm to a P.T. Anderson picture, even if it is one as indulgent, affected, messy and mildly pretentious as ‘Magnolia’. The attempt to corral the separate narratives and thematic tributaries via the final surrealist twist on biblical apocalypse (if you’re feeling especially geeky, you can find echoes planted throughout the movie) is really all smoke and no fire, an ineffectual attempt to conclude an impulsive and free-flowing movie with some sense of classical denouement. But it’s certainly a moment you’re unlikely to forget, and somehow, despite it’s lack of internal logic, seems oddly appropriate for a movie that lacks meaning and motivation but is full of bustle, heart and chaos.

The ensemble cast is absolutely wonderful; from an immaculately over-egged performance from Julianne Moore to surprisingly effective against type turns from Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman as an evangelical sexual predator and sweet-natured nurse respectively. The statue surely has to go to two ensemble stalwarts who root the movie in its hazy, doom-laden emotional slalom: William H. Macy’s spineless, tormented Quiz-Kid Donnie Smith and Philip Baker Hall’s wrenching turn as dying quiz show host Jimmy Gator.

Adolescent, misguided and demanding it may be, but ‘Magnolia’ remains full of playfulness, juicy performances, generosity of spirit and a love of cinema that knows no bounds, not even the not inconsiderable boundary that it probably never should have gotten made. Luckily for us, it did. Love it, hate it, just see it for yourself.