I have recently been on a Paul Thomas-Anderson kick following One Battle After Another. OBAA and There Will Be Blood were the only two before I saw last week but I had always been strangely attracted to Magnolia when I saw the premise and poster. The movie seemed so mysterious not giving any detail about what the story actually was and the cast was so deep I decided it had to be my next venture after how much I loved One Battle After Another
Exposition
The movie begins with weather reports much like the ones you see above and a monologue about how there is no such thing as coincidence and chance. We are then introduced to 10 different characters who are all related to each other in some way, shape, or form. We meet Frank T.J Mackey (Tom Cruise) who is the sleaziest looking sex salesman you will ever see in your life (until Alphamale influencers). Frank is the son of Earl Partridge (James Robards) who is a successful TV producer on his deathbed being taken care of by his nurse Phil Pharma (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and his wife Linda Partridge (Julianne Moore). Partridge produces a successful game show hosted by Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall). We are then introduced to Gator’s wife Rose (Melinda Dillon) and later to their estranged daughter Claudia (Melinda Walters). We are also introduced to a legend of Gator’s game show Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) and current MVP of the show Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman). Finally we are introduced to a do-gooder cop Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly).
Now that I have mentioned all these characters and their relationships we as viewers can predict in our heads that these characters stories will all intersect from one fateful event at the end of the movie and we are wondering what genius writing will connect all the stories at the end to make a beautiful movie. After being introduced to these characters each goes off into their daily lives and we are able to see how these people live their lives both with themselves and with relationship with one another. It is too much for me to lay out all of the exposition so I will hit the main points in other acts but I can not stress enough that if you haven’t seen this movie you should go watch it.
The Sins of Fathers
The genius of having all of these characters is that PTA is able to hit all different types of relationships and themes through each one. One strikingly obvious theme throughout the movie is that the sins of fathers and parents reflect in their children’s actions. Stanley the quiz kid phenom is used like a machine by his father and is at his wits end with being used. It is revealed to us later on through an outstanding performance by Cruise that Frank Mackey’s suave douchebag womanizer act almost entirely stems from a traumatic event in the form of taking care of his dying mother while his father was cheating on her. We also find out at the end of the movie that Claudia has been such a mess the entire movie because of psychological trauma stemming from being raped by her own father at a young age.
The genius of this theme in particular is that Anderson gets you acquainted with these characters and their flaws and right as you start to make judgements on these characters for their inability to be normal you are confronted with the fact that it is not entirely their fault. It is so deeply human and insightful writing to evoke sympathy from viewers on characters that most would look down on. We are able to empathize with people who we take high ground on early in the movie like drug addicts or inhuman womanizers through learning their roots. This is one of many themes that PTA is able to hit through having multiple characters and backstories.
Coincidence and the inevitability of life
The movie begins with a monologue about some characters that we don’t see again detailing a remarkably coincidental death and then touching on the idea that there is no such thing as coincidence. To attribute life’s events to mere coincidence is downplaying the extraordinary nature of life and things happen for some kind of purpose in your life whether you see it or not. The thesis of this movie is that unordinary things happen whether it be losing your gun in an important crime scene, a star contestant on a game show quitting in the biggest moment, or frogs falling from the sky. These things are not merely happenstance or destiny but rather the human experience.
The duality of this concept is that while events in our lives can not be merely flukes we should not spend our time trying to interpret them in our head. The climax of this movie action wise is that it rains frogs in Los Angeles. Yes you read that correctly, it rains frogs. The beauty and intention behind the frog rain is that it changes the course of our story completely; mothers are reunited with daughters, suicide attempts are shattered at the hands of the frogs, and our nice guy hero character meets our desperate lonely burnout. The impact of these events through the frog rain completely changes our story. Families are healed, hope is found in the most hopeless of lives, and even the worst person will live to see another day. The crafting of these events could have happened naturally but that would defy the directors point: coincidence is not real and sometimes things simply happen. The divine intervention aspect of this dramatizes and exaggerates the theme but the ideology stand strong whether the events are natural or divine.
This is the underlying essence of this entire film through all the characters we meet and all of the backstory we get; things do not need to make sense. When you watch this movie and expect everything to come together you are looking at it all wrong. The human experience is not input output but rather a set of circumstances we all experience whether they make sense or not. PTA lets us know that sometimes making sense of all these twists and turns isn’t the right thing, instead of attributing events to chance or logically analyzing how things could have happened this way take a step back. This belief is portrayed through the image I have left from this movie “but it did happen“. That beautiful sentiment is what Anderson is trying to hit home, somethings dont need meaning or chance: they just happen.
Forgiveness and Imperfection
All of the themes above accumulate into one main thesis at the end of the movie: humans are imperfect and forgiveness balances these imperfections. Through the entire character study of the movie we sit back and analyze the darkest crevices of our character’s lives. We see a serial minsogynst womanizer, a train-wreck drug addict, and a disloyal spouse at their lowest. Then once the second act hits, we are reminded that even though these people are flawed at their core they are simply human like the rest of us. Our characters are reframed as victims of neglect, sexual abuse, and even their own poor choices. The intention behind this structure is simple. As humans we all do poor things sometimes on our own will and sometimes as a reaction to other imperfect humans wronging us. Instead of damning these characters however, PTA takes redirects these characters arcs gives them all a chance for redemption.
After the climax of the movie and it’s peculiar weather circumstances, the aftermath is presented to us behind the monologue of our do-good cop. This monologue directly addresses this theme through explaining that as a cop he has to make judgement calls on if it is right to forgive or to punish. This 2 minute long reflection concludes on the idea of wondering what kind of bounds mercy towards others really has. “What can we forgive?” is asked rhetorically as if it is a prompt for the viewer to reflect on. The question of the monologue is answered through the falling action where we see families reunite, second chances, and new horizons for our characters who had such a dark 3 hours before this moment. The essence of forgiveness is the shining beacon of hope through such dark events and characters and that is the key takeaway from all the madness of the movie.
Our ending – Themes Put into Practice
The scene that immediately follows the monologue mentioned above is our cop going to promise to his shipwreck of a crush to love her and for her to love herself. This ending combines all of the previously mentioned themes to give us a complete representation of the ultimate human experience rollercoaster PTA has put us on in this movie. Sometimes there is no reason things are simply meant to be and sometimes people are imperfect and require some grace to nurture these relationships. The speech given at the end is a heartwarming speech where our good guy cop professes “You listen to me now. You’re a good person. A good, beautiful person, and I won’t let you walk out on me. I won’t let you say those things. Those things about how stupid you are and this and that. I won’t stand for that. You want to be with me, then you be with me.” The ability for a cop, the pinnacle of right and wrong, to look past and forgive his cocaine driven romantic interest and to see the good in the movie is intentionally food for thought for watchers. This type of radical generosity and pure love puts seemingly the first smile we see all movie on a woman who’s life she felt to be ruined and spent her days in misery. That is the shining light in Magnolia forgiveness can counteract all horrible actions and foster genuine human relationships. What can we forgive?
