As technically audacious as Boogie Nights (1997) but rendered in a much darker key, Magnolia (1999) traces the interlinked lives of several characters on a day full of bad luck, coincidences, and odd weather phenomena. The sprawling cast includes PTA regulars such as John C. Reilly playing a lonely cop, Julianne Moore as the wife of a dying TV mogul in full-blown panic mode, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a kind nurse. It also features Tom Cruise in a career highlight as Frank T.J. Mackey, a crass precursor to manosphere influencers, and Jason Robards in his final role. With its many narrative threads, PTA’s Altman-inspired third feature is not easily summarized. What unites the characters, however, are their attempts to find love and to escape what haunts them. As the narrator proclaims, “We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.”
PTA wrote Magnolia, in part, to process his father’s death. The intensity of that experience manifests in the film’s near apocalyptic atmosphere. This vision of the director’s beloved San Fernando Valley is one where everyone is on the verge of a meltdown and seeking validation, where the songs of Aimee Mann puncture the film’s sense of verisimilitude. When asked during a Reddit Ask Me Anything what he would tell his younger self about making Magnolia, PTA responded, “Chill The Fuck Out and Cut Twenty Minutes.” And yet, it’s that frantic energy and bold accrual of seemingly disparate plots, along with his trademark off-kilter humor, that makes Magnolia as compelling as it is.
Progress Note: This film is not yet annotated.
"This is something you do for a billion years or not at all."




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































