| brucekluger.com |
The Stars Come Out in P.T. Anderson’s “Magnolia” Moviedom's most adventurous director churns out another cinematic mind- trip—with a little help from Hollywood's finest. By Bruce Kluger
caper, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World barreled onto movies screens across the country, instantly staking its claim in film history as the granddaddy of the all-star extravaganza. Boasting a cast of nearly two dozen big-name luminaries—from Spencer Tracy to the Three Stooges—the film set the standard by which Hollywood casting directors would measure their ability for years to come. Throughout the Seventies, the industry continued to roll out marquee-heavy fare—
becoming a thing of the past. With actor salaries skyrocketing, and the low-budget independent films becoming the rage, movie makers are learning that name recognition is not necessarily the sole ingredient to box office success.
proven track records and enormous respect within the industry—seem to be able to assemble small armies of distinguished thespians to headline their big-screen efforts. So explain the phenomenon of Paul Thomas Anderson, a rookie writer-director who, with just two films to his credit, managed to recruit a handsome lineup of above-the-title talent for his latest film, Magnolia, which opens this Friday. Anderson, whose abbreviated appellation now reads “P.T. Anderson” (does he envision himself Barnum, or the next coming of D.W. Griffith?), exploded onto the scene in 1997 with his frantic spin through the Seventies porn industry, Boogie Nights. Critical acclaim, a hefty box office haul and a handful of Oscar nominations for the film instantly catapulted Anderson to the top-shelf, displacing former Hollywood wunderkind Quentin Tarantino. For winners in the movie business, the payoff is the sudden clout that comes with being in demand. For a director in particular, that translates into the luxury of being able to cherry-pick a cast of screen notables for subsequent projects—which Anderson has done with aplomb. Appearing in Magnolia are an ensemble of critically and commercially celebrated artists including, among others, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Melinda Dillon. “I have my dream cast and crew and couldn’t be happier,” Anderson gushed to reporters after signing and sealing the casting deals for Magnolia in 1998. And he had good reason. At the time, the most recent star to join to movie’s hit parade was also the industry’s biggest—Tom Cruise, who had been wowed by Boogie Nights and met with Anderson while filming Eyes Wide Shut in London. The two men hit it off, and Anderson walked away with a deal: he would write a role specifically for Cruise (the character is a greasy TV sex-advice peddler), and the actor would happily bring it to life for the camera. How much did Cruise trust Anderson to deliver the goods? The answer is in the numbers. Magnolia was budgeted at $30 million; Cruise gets around $20 million per film. Clearly taking a pay cut, the superstar was sending a signal to Anderson—and to Hollywood in general—that sometimes an actor takes on a project based on the art, and not just the economics (though Cruise is reported to be participating in the film’s back-end revenues). Like Boogie Nights, Anderson’s Magnolia script is heavy on character- development, weaving together nine personal tales—of loss, forgiveness, hope and renewal—through a series of events that occur over 24 hours in Southern California. Reminiscent of Altman’s Short Cuts, the screenplay relies heavily on emotional intimacy, which is precisely what appealed most to Magnolia's distinguished cast. “I was taken aback by the script because it is so honest about the human condition,” says Oscar-winner Jason Robards, who plays a cancer patient coming to grips with his disappointing legacy in the final moments of his life. “It had a novelistic approach that I found fascinating. There were no star parts. Every character was equal.” For Julianne Moore, Magnolia was an opportunity to play a woman “who is hysterical throughout half the movie.” An Oscar-nominee for her portrayal of a coke- snorting porn goddess in Boogie Nights, Moore appears in Magnolia as Robards’ young wife, Linda, who married for money and now finds herself enslaved to Robards’ illness. “The challenge was to be really truthful and very emotional, with big gestures,” Moore explains, “yet somehow stayed rooted in reality. I wanted to make the character human.” Another Boogie Nights alum returning to Anderson’s antic make-believe world is William H. Macy, whose career took off in 1996, with his Oscar-nominated turn in the Coen Brothers’ black comedy Fargo. Although his character in Magnolia—a former child quiz game whiz who now runs a failing electronics store—promised Macy the kind of eccentric character study for which he’s best known, it was clearly the prospect of working with Anderson again that drew Macy to the project. “I think Paul came out of the womb a great director,” says Macy. “The guy thinks cinematically. He has an indefatigable knowledge of the mechanics of it all, and his sets are vibrant and fun.” If P.T. Anderson has become the flavor-of-the-month among Hollywood directors, Philip Seymour Hoffman currently boasts that honor in the industry’s acting flanks. Also a Boogie Nights veteran (he was the porn set gofer with the crush on superstud Dirk Diggler), Hoffman went on to appear in Happiness and opposite Robin Williams in Patch Adams, and earlier this month stole the show—and reviews—from co-star Robert DeNiro as the singing drag queen in Joel Schumacher’ s Flawless. With his nuanced and tempered performance in Magnolia—as an at-home nurse trying to reunite Robards with his estranged son (Cruise)—Hoffman is grateful for another opportunity to take on a meaty role, and another chance to work with Anderson. “I appreciated that Paul was asking for something completely different from me,” he says, “and that this film is also completely different. In the end, that’s the stuff you really want to be a part of.” |
