October 2000

Magnolia
Reviewed by Doug Schneider
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment:
Picture Quality:
Sound Quality:
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Starring Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Theatrical Release: 1999
DVD Release: 2000
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround
Widescreen (anamorphic)

To attempt to describe Magnolia is much like attempting to kill a gorilla armed with only five toothpicks and some masking tape. It may not be impossible, but it is darn difficult. Likewise, it’s impossible to expect everyone to like a movie like this. It’s the type of movie that people either love or hate; there’s very little in-between.

The story of Magnolia revolves around nine central characters: the boy genius, the former boy genius, the sex counselor, the game show host, and a few others. Some of them know each other, some of them are family, and almost all of them will have crossed at least one other character’s path. It takes place in Los Angeles over the period of a few days under threat of heavy rain, very heavy rain. Is there a purpose? Perhaps, although it may be different for everyone who sees it. There is no single purpose, no singular ending, and no simple way to describe it. The excellent movie trailer tells us that "it will all make sense in the end," but that’s not really true either.

In many ways this film is unique, in other ways it is not. The intertwining stories that form the plots are reminiscent of Robert Altman’s Short Cuts. Watching the story reminds one of The Thin Red Line. It is more or less an experience, a tale of people and their experiences, past and present. Those weaned on TV stories told at a grade-school level probably won’t get it; in fact, they may hate it. The three-plus hour running time is hard for some to stomach. And then there’s the ending, which either confuses people, or causes them to shake their heads with disbelief (some critics even insinuate that it’s a cop-out by the writer who could not think of a way to bring all the stories back together). However, what most people forget is that the beginning of the film describes very odd situations and that have perfectly rational explanations; chance coincidences that can add up to extraordinarily strange events. Magnolia is about those coincidences and the resulting events.

I’ve gone on gushing about Magnolia for almost a year now. Admittedly most people don’t like it as much as I do, but I’ll go on defending it as a truly great film. I’ve seen it five times and every time I see it, I see a little more. Perhaps I’m also a bit biased by fact that I am so impressed by its writer and director, Paul Thomas Anderson. Anderson’s previous accomplishment is Boogie Nights, a much-praised tale of the California porn industry during the ‘70s and ‘80s. (A little tidbit for you: When that movie was being made and then released Anderson was mistaken at times for real-life porn actor and director Paul Thomas.). Prior to Boogie Nights there was the little known, but critically acclaimed Hard Eight. These movies tell different stories, but they share important similarities. At just under 30 years of age, P.T. Anderson has proven to be one of the most formidable writers/directors to come into the Hollywood limelight, and he’s only getting better. The films bristle with life and excitement, have an extraordinary attention to detail in terms of character development and depth, and are created with such passion and technical expertise that you’d swear he’s been making movies for decades.

For this great film, I was more than relieved when I first discovered the quality of this release. For the same price as a single DVD, one gets two DVDs in a special foldout booklet. Disc 1 is the movie. Picture and sound quality are all very good. The only thing I can criticize is that during the video transfer the movie loses just a bit of the brilliance that is noticeable in the theater. Anderson’s films are a marvel of camera work and to lose just a little of that here is a tad disappointing. No real fault of the DVD itself, just a fact of life. The quality of image on DVD is never as good as on projected film.

On the other disc are the extras. They are plentiful and well-worth watching. They help to make this one of the best DVD releases on the market. Worth noting is the Frank T.J. Mackey Infomercial (has Tom Cruise ever been better that this?), the excellent theatrical trailer and teaser (this trailer and the one for Eye’s Wide Shut were the best ones of 1999 and should serve as examples of how to make a trailer great and not spoil the movie), and an excellent documentary of the making of Magnolia. The documentary was shot on video and is behind-the-scenes footage, which focuses primarily on Anderson. In its roughly one hour running time, it shows all the mayhem behind making the movie. It is one of the best sources of insight into the Hollywood filmmaking process. It’s a real eye-opener that proves it’s certainly not all glitz and glamour.

Magnolia is a stellar DVD release. While it may not be for everyone, for me Magnolia is magnificent.

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