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'Magnolia' Film Review

A review of Paul Thomas Anderson's polarizing 1999 film, 'Magnolia.' (NOTE: The following review was originally written and posted by me on Letterboxd.)

By Anna CheneyPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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Magnolia theatrical release poster

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia comprises multiple co-existent storylines, which are ultimately intertwined in different ways. The characters are tethered to each other somehow through various relationships, whether that be familial, romantic, friendly, or otherwise. Every one of these characters has something in common: they all represent a form of childhood trauma. The long-term effects of their troubled upbringings are presented rawly (one can argue that it is rather heavy-handed, though I disagree for reasons I will mention later), regarding thorny subject matters such as drug addiction, promiscuity, and molestation. When you look into the characters, you are supposed to see children who were, or are being exposed to the perils of the real world far too early.

The further I have contemplated the story itself since watching, the more resonant it has become in my eyes. I am rarely ever drawn to stories that meddle with my emotions on an excessive, overbearing level the way most dramas do—however, while I can understand people thinking it is too over-the-top or absurd in its narrative, nothing about it felt try-hard or emotionally manipulative to me. The sole intention is not to evoke a strong emotional response in its audience, but rather to tell a story about juvenile adversities, and not sugarcoat the excruciation it causes as a result, while also refusing to be insensitively blunt in its portrayal. Of course, it may perturb some viewers due to instinctual human empathy, but it avoids reinforcing shock-value and other emotional factors beyond what is deemed necessary.

(Left) Jeremy Blackman as Stanley Spector in Magnolia (1999)

I cannot remember the last time I thought an entire cast was so flawlessly constructed before watching. Tom Cruise’s performance as Frank T.J. Mackey is quite possibly the best that I have seen from him in his career thus far. Cruise’s talents are showcased especially in the sequences involving Frank and his father; there is one particular moment where Frank is so visibly overwhelmed with anger and resentment in the presence of his estranged, dying father that he breaks down completely, then borderline hyperventilates. It is hard to say why exactly this scene stands out to me above the rest—there is just something so powerful about watching his facade slowly break, and seeing the vulnerability that he learned to use his virile nature as a stronghold against.

Tom Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia (1999)

The characters Claudia Gator and Stanley Spector are the two primary representations of child abuse throughout. No one knows anything about what happened to the former in her past—all that can really be gathered is that she is a promiscuous drug addict—until the end, when her father Jimmy Gator suggests that he molested her when she was a child. In the beginning, Jimmy approaches his daughter in her home to inform her about his cancer diagnosis, and she screams at him to get out without a clear rationale behind her sudden anguish, but the tension between them is tangible as if it had been festering for years. Once Jimmy admits to molesting his daughter, her outburst in retrospect becomes much more poignant, because it blatantly shows why encountering her father had frightened her before. Claudia is illustrated as an erratic and deeply paranoid woman whose life is devoid of any stability whatsoever, but her storyline seems to be one of the few that is positively resolved. The difference between her and Stanley is that he is still a child who actively suffers from emotional and verbal abuse at the hands of his father. Being a young prodigy, heavy weight is placed on his shoulders as a group of adults, including his own father, exploit his intelligence by forcing him to compete in a televised game show. Even the other contestants, some of whom are full-grown adults as well, berate him too—and this recurs until Stanley finally musters the courage to put his foot down. One night, he walks into his father’s bedroom, and tells him straightforwardly that he needs to be nicer to him. What makes Stanley’s story even more heartbreaking is the fact that he is only a young boy, yet he is far enough beyond his years to understand that the way he has been treated is wrong.

Melora Walters as Claudia Gator in Magnolia (1999)

Even if you have criticisms about the film, there are a number of intriguing storylines to delve into nonetheless, and I am hardly scratching the surface of it all here. I could go on about my interpretations of every little detail for longer, but there are still many I have yet to fully register myself. Not that it is too cryptic to be comprehended without penetrative analysis by any means, but, simply, there is so much to take from it that I am unable to absorb it all at once. I do not see any other drama film managing to make me think as much as this one already has. With that being said, even though I have read this exact sentiment iterated in other reviews, and the last thing I want to do is parrot, I mean it when I say that it truly does make three hours feel like nothing.

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Anna Cheney

Putting my thoughts & feelings into words.

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