Magnolia (1999)


Jeremy Blackman         Stanley Spector
Michael Bowen           Rick Spector
Tom Cruise              Frank T J Mackey
Melinda Dillon          Rose Gator
Henry Gibson            Thurston Howell
April Grace             Gwenovier
Philip Baker Hall       Jimmy Gator
Philip Seymour Hoffman  Phil Parma
William H. Macy         Donnie Smith
Julianne Moore          Linda Partridge
John C. Reilly          Jim Kurring
Jason Robards           Earl Partridge
Melora Walters          Claudia Wilson

Directed by:            Paul Thomas Anderson
Produced by:            Michael de Luca, Lynn Harris, JoAnne Sellar


On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous 
lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged 
daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story. Through a collusion 
of coincidence, chance, human action, shared media, past history and divine intervention they will weave 
and warp through each other's lives on a day that builds to an unforgettable climax.

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24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to 
die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything 
to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead 
and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop 
meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's 
young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their 
situations. The weather, too, is quirky.

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The coincidence in this movie is not apparent. Rather, I believe this movie is about choice- and the where 
and when this reality manifests itself. Throughout the film, we are introduced to characters both young and 
old, perhaps only sharing emptiness among them. Through the variety especially in age of characters, the 
movie presents choice in its three forms- present, past, and future- making present choices, choices already 
made, and setting ourselves up to make choices in the future. The movie emphasizes choices made over the 
other two. We witness two men, who have nothing else in common aside from their expected and imminent deaths, 
regress painfully over wretched pasts- results of pathetic choices. Furthermore, the movie affirms the 
eminence of present choices through a young prodigy displayed on a game show. Will he too one day regret his 
past decisions? Our prophetic cop indirectly divulges his personal secret to making unknown future decisions - 
morality.