The sweet scent of
DYSFUNCTION
Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie
“Magnolia” draws in the
audience with an innocent
notion of connection but digs
deep into the reality of life, love,
sex and relationships to uncover
a gritty Americana scene.
MOVIES
Magnolia
Starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore,
Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy,
Jason Robards, Jeremy Blackman and -
John C. Reilly. Directed by Paul Thomas
Anderson. New Line Cinema.
★★★★☆
By Sara jarrett
Oregon Daily Emerald
j web of connection, as if by
chance, runs through the
desolate streets of Califor
L JLnia’s San Fernando Valley.
Each character in Paul Thomas
Anderson’s “Magnolia” is cap
tured by the familiar thread like a
grandma’s lovingly knitted scarf,
intended to protect against the
harsh wind but instead found
wrapped around grandpa’s lifeless
neck.
Who would have thought she
had made it strong enough to sup
port the weight of his body?
The movie opens with real-life
tales that seem too far-fetched to
be purely coincidental. Nothing
less than chance can be used to
make sense of them, though. An
derson uses this notion to find his
inspiration. He is obviously dedi
cated to portraying these types of
subtle — maybe not so subtle —
relationships in “Magnolia.”
“What Kids Know,” a popular
quiz show, makes all of the con
nections come together. Jason Ro
bards plays Earl Partridge, pro
ducer of the show and a dying old
man whose death-bed perform
ance, though a little prolific in
moans and groans, evokes sympa
thy for the bastard surrounded by
gold and dogs.
His suicidal wife, played by the
much, much younger Julianne
Moore, pops pills and stumbles in
and out of the house as she deals
with her newfound love for a man
she admittedly married for fortune.
Partridge, in a drugged deliri
um, asks his nurse Phil (Philip
Seymour Hoffman) to find his es
tranged son. After searching
through pom magazines, Phil fi
nally finds the one-and-only
Frank T.J. Mackey, played by Tom
Cruise.
Mackey is a gum, of sorts, to
lonely men everywhere. With a
successful seminar business un
der the name “Search and De
stroy,” he exhorts these desperate
guys with the mantra, “Respect
the cock and tame the cunt. ”
We later find out that it wasn’t a
woman who made Mackey the
Courtesy ot New Line Cinema
Stanley Spector (left, Jeremy Blackman) plays a child genius who wins big on a quiz show. Michael Bowen is his father and Felicity Huffman plays the show’s producer.
misogynist he is today, but rather
his own father, who left years ear
lier when his son and dying wife
needed him most.
The range of Cruise’s perform
ance in “Magnolia” is his most im
pressive to date. This latest en
deavor will first cause outrage,
then leave viewers filled with pity.
Cruise is actually on the verge of
evoking tears with this role.
Working with Stanley Kubrick
in last summer’s “Eyes Wide
Shut” has obviously left its mark.
Fans who fell in love with Cruise’s
earlier roles in movies such as
“Top Gun” and “Days of Thun
der” may.be disturbed by his pull
to the dark side, though.
This dark theme runs amok in
“Magnolia.”
Jimmy Gator, played by Philip
Baker Hall, is the host of “What
Kids Know. ” After learning he has
just two months to five, Gator con
fesses to committing adultery and
molesting his only daughter Clau
dia (Melora Walters). In the end,
he gets what he deserves.
A seemingly insignificant char
acter played by William H. Macy,
Donnie Smith has a relationship
to the movie as a whole that is best
understood as what might have
been. Stanley Spector, played by
Jeremy Blackman, is the child ge
nius who wins big on the quiz
show until an accidental call of
nature makes him stand up to both
his domineering dad and Gator.
The pathetic Smith, who was a
child winner on the same game
show years earlier, represents
what Spector could have very well
grown up to be if he kept letting
adults push him around.
The only tangible connection
between Smith and the rest of the
characters, however, is when po
lice officer Jim Kurring (John C.
Reilly) saves him from a raining
toad storm.
Kurring, who has fallen in love
with Gator’s coke-addicted daugh
ter, is feeling sorry for himself after
she dumps him in the middle of
their first date. A relationship that
begins when Kurring is called to
her apartment on a domestic dis
turbance complaint is obviously
doomed from die start.
When Kurring witnesses Smith
fall off of a telephone pole after be
ing hit in the head by a falling
toad, Kurring drags Smith out of
harm’s way.
The entire toad storm, hailed as
just one of those phenomenons
that just happens sometimes, is al
most unbearable to watch. Not
only do giant toads the size of
newborn babies fall from the sky,
their green, slimy bodies pound
the concrete ground with thunder
ous plops. Blood isn’t too preva
lent, but slimy, twitching legs are.
Nevertheless, the concept wins
points for originality.
Anderson directs the viewers’
gaze around the screen through
the use of crystal clear images in
front of hazy backdrops. This tech
nique directs the initial point of
entry, yet then begs the viewer to
look at the blurriness behind.
Instead of making it impenetra
ble, Anderson makes the back
ground just clear enough to see
what’s going on. This juxtaposi
tion reveals minute details that
heighten the movie-going experi
ence andprcmdes further ccnmectivity.
Anderson also chooses to let the
volume of the musical score be
come the most dominant aspect in
a few places. “One is the Loneliest
Number,” for instance, nearly suf
focates the dialogue of the open
ing sequence. As many of the char
acters are being introduced to tne
audience, Anderson decides to
make it difficult to hear them speak.
The weather is also used so ex
actly it virtually becomes a char
acter in the movie. The duration of
the film spans one day that is di
vided into three parts, delineated
by changes in the weather.
Text explaining the changes,
which very accurately follow the
mood of the plot, are displayed on
the screen in a weather update
type style often found on the front
page of newspapers.
“Magnolia” is not just a movie
about people and how one life af
fects another. On a deeper level,
this movie explores the idea that
existence, in and of itself, is mere
chance.
Then again, the movie could ap
peal to those fans who just want a
good story with well-developed
characters.
In the end, this film could lend
itself to over-analyzing, just as
easily as it could be stripped to
the core and effortlessly swal
lowed. Mostly “Magnolia” is a
must-see for all those who are in
the mood for something
in-between.