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Magnolia
"You may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with you". So begins Paul Thomas Anderson's greatest work to date, Magnolia. At its heart, Magnolia is about the past, the present, and the future. It's about atoning for our mistakes, and forgiving others for their mistakes.
This is not a review. To write a review of Magnolia would not do it justice. I can not in good heart assign a glib star rating to a movie and expect it to sum up everything that the movie has to offer. Often, I ignore that little voice telling me this and just write the damn review. Other times, the movie works so well I can't ignore that little voice. This is one of those times. Magnolia is not only the best that Paul Thomas Anderson has offered filmgoers, it's one of the best films I have ever seen. Those who remember my top 10 of 1999 will not that I didn't place it highly on the list. Well I was wrong. That's why I hate lists anyway. When I made the list I didn't even put Fight Club in the top 10. Magnolia didn't make the top 5, I believe. Both exist on a whole different field.
Magnolia takes place during one day in the lives of several characters. Some are totally unrelated to each other except for the fact that they live in the same city. Others are very closely related. What ties them together is chance meetings, shared friendships, and perhaps a little bit of divine intervention. The movie opens to tell us three stories of such chance. Sometimes bizarre things happen. It's best just to enjoy what we're given.
One part of the story is about a television producer dying of cancer. Earl Partridge is played beautifully by Jason Robards. His young wife Linda is addicted to his medication, and at first seems to be a typical young girl marrying old for his money. But looks can be deceiving; her past may be a checkered one, and it may come back to haunt her, but it's the future we're concerned with. Julianne Moore plays her character without a hint of insincerity. At first we see her as a money grubbing harlot; in the marriage until the old man kicks. But there's a lot more to her. Earl has some skeletons in his closet as well. Years ago he left his sick wife with a young son, and his son grew up to be Frank T.J. Mackay, a chauvinist putting on a show to cover up a very real anger and resentment toward his father. This is one of Tom Cruise's best roles.
Earl has a nurse to see him to his death, and he asks Phil Parma to find his son. For Earl, the present is the only time he can find forgiveness. After much phone chasing, Phil finally tracks down Frank, and we discover both how much Frank hates his father, and also how much he still loves his father. I am of course assuming you've seen this movie before. If not, stop reading now and set aside 3 hours to see this fascinating movie.
Before Earl got cancer, he was the producer of a long running and very popular TV quiz show called "what do kids know?" hosted by Jimmy Gator. Gator, played by Philip Baker Hall, is also dying of cancer. It's in the bones, and he has less than two months to live. Much like Earl, he has an estranged child. Although the details are much, much different here, Jimmy Gator would very much like to see his daughter clean up and listen to him.
It's at this point I'm given a fork in the road. I'll go back to this line of thought in a moment, but right now it's time to focus on the show. William H. Macy plays former quiz kid winner Donnie Smith. Donnie won a lot of money on the show, but from what he tells us throughout the film what money wasn't stolen from him was lost on frivolous buys. He's just been laid off, and he's suffering from a severe case of unrequited love for a young handsome bartender. Jeremy Blackman plays Stanley Spector, the current quiz kid champion who is constantly prodded like a circus monkey by his brow beating father, and he is having just enough of being faced as an oddity. Donnie isn't a bad person by any means, but Stanley faces just such a poor future if he doesn't face his past, and choose his own future.
And now it's time to back track. Jimmy Gator's daughter is facing a bleak present as a result of an ambiguous past with her father, and now she spends her time getting high any way she can. She seems to be in a very dark place when Officer Jim Kurring comes along. John C. Reilly is Jim, and he plays the film as a sort of narration. Again, I hope you've seen the movie. Jim forgives people for their mistakes. He's a police officer, but he's willing to bend the rules if it doesn't hurt anyone. Donnie has done a certain misdeed, and it's here we learn about the film's true message of forgiveness. To say that John C. Reilly's character is the heart of the film would not be inaccurate, but with so many characters given such depth, it's possible to make such a claim anywhere. In the end, what does this film mean to you? What this film means to me is this: choose your path carefully and be willing to listen, not judge, when someone has something to say. Of course, I encourage you to make your own interpretations.