Magnolia

If There Will Be Blood has eclipsed Magnolia as PTA’s most highly praised movie, this deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. TWBB is a vertical, linear story, trained on larger than life oilman Daniel Plainview. Magnolia, by contrast, unfurls like a flower, in every direction. It’s the story of a dying TV producer (Jason Robards), his male nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman), his much younger, second wife (Julianne Moore), his estranged son, an sex guru (Tom Cruise in his greatest single performance), and also of two child game show quiz kids, past and present (PTA worked on a similar show as a teenager), a TV host (Philip Baker Hall), his estranged daughter (Melora Walters), her new boyfriend (John C Reilly)…

In sum, there are enough characters here to furnish a soap opera for several seasons, criss-crossing the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation. Anderson keeps us invested in each of these strands, using the songs of Aimee Mann as a unifying thread. He takes big swings here, it’s his riskiest film, but if you are willing to go with it the pay-off is huge.

Sept 6: Intro by Ashley Daniel Foot, Director of Engagement, Vancouver Opera

Enthralling and exhilarating.

Time Out

Magnolia is a plea for kindness — especially between parents and children. It appeals to the emotional heart rather than the logical brain, but there’s true greatness here — it’s a rare movie, about which one can feel true passion.

Andrew O’Hehir, Daily Telegraph

You don’t have to like everything [Anderson] does, but if you enjoy seeing the walls rattled and the roof raised in the Hollywood citadel, you’ve got to love it.

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail