Emotional. Sensitive. Jaggernaut-powerful. Beautiful. Dramatic. Funny. Technically exquisite

Are there more adjectives to describe PT Anderson‘s Magnolia? Yes

The beauty of the cinematography work is extraordinary, the dumbfounding strength of the story and the raw feelings the characters deliver are rare – and the songs are just deliriously good

Let’s take a little time and learn more about Magnolia‘s magnificent actors, shall we?

7. Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall plays Jimmy Gator, legendary presenter of a quiz show called What Do Kids Know? An American icon representing traditional family values, Gator has a weak spot for fucking any woman available to him, including a possible – and denied to even himself – abuse on Claudia, his own daughter – now a cocaine junkie who refuses to ever speak to him, to the utter surprise of Jimmy’s wife – Claudia’s mum

Philip Baker Hall is a character actor with a great backbone & a past of numerous small & wonderful roles. Hall was Chief Justice in The Rock by Michael Bay, where he was co-responsible of locking captive British spy John Mason – Sean Connery – away from the world for 30 years. He was attorney Mark Silverberg in Enemy of the State by Tony Scott, a stern & successful lawyer who confronts young attorney Robert Clayton Dean – Will Smith – & unjustly removes Dean from his firm under NSA pressures. Philip Baker Hall‘s had a million little roles in a million of your favourite films. Although you hardly ever remember him or his name, Hall always makes a 5 minutes role worth watching. In Magnolia Philip Baker Hall delivers the – long! – performance of a lifetime

6. William H. Macy

William H. Macy is such a face. Yes, he is a face. Macy‘s face says everything there is to say & that’s why this actor is in so many films you wouldn’t even believe. Macy is the deranged & weak middle range manager that schemes the kidnapping of his own wife in Fargo by the Joel and Ethan Coen. A sleazy CIA agent in Wag the Dog by Barry Levinson. A repressed average guy who goes bonkers & turns psychopathic killer in Edmond by Stuart Gordon

In Magnolia Bill Macy plays Quiz Kid Donnie Smith, ex child-prodigy, a depressed middle aged man desperately looking for companionship in all the wrong places & trying to spin his life around by robbing his former boss’ store the day after being fired. Bill Macy is all in his incredibly expressive face, drama stricken look & whiny desperate voice. You never quite remember Macy‘s name, but his face sticks with your mind forever

 

5. Alfred Molina

Featured in a single scene at the beginning of Magnolia, Alfred Molina plays Solomon Solomon, the sleazy & arrogant boss of a second rate electronics store that hired Quiz Kid Donnie Smith as a sales rep, banking on Smith’s ever-going popularity & overlooking the fact that the middle aged man is now a complete wreck. Molina‘s greasy crispy hair & his improbable mustache, combined with the depiction of the insensitive dick that Solomon is, sticks with you though the character appears in a single scene

After Magnolia we’ve seen Alfred Molina as the brainwashing & scheming priest in The Da Vinci Code by Ron Howard, as the delusional villain Doc Ock in Spider Man 2 by Sam Raimi, as the sweet & gullible Dick Suskind in The Hoax by Lasse Hallström. Molina is a complex actor that can easily range from disgusting sleazebag to sweet & kind guy, from delusional maniac to evil master. In Magnolia Alfred Molina is really funny & terribly cynical in just a 5 min cameo

Here's a few posts you might like...

Like this piece? Share it!