Magnolia-Shooting Script -OSI (Newmarket Shooting Script) [Hardcover]

Paul Thomas Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Newmarket Shooting Script | Publication Date: January 31, 2000

The only companion book to the much-anticipated follow-up to Paul Thomas Anderson's critically hailed Boogie Nights that "leaves you no doubt you are in the presence of a natural-born filmmaker."--David Ansen, Newsweek. The much-heralded writer-director deliberately withheld information about his new film during production because "I feel lately as if I know everything about a movie before I see it, and I really want the audience to discover this purely." Featuring an ensemble cast (see below), in, in an unbilled role, Tom Cruise (who called Anderson to express interest in working with him), the film is now described as "a story about family relationships and bonds that have been broken and need to be mended in one day...set in the San Fernando Valley on a day full of rain with no clouds." Magnolia: The Illustrated Screenplay includes the complete shooting script, introduction and script notes by Anderson, a photo section with about 40 photos in color, and interview with the writer/director, and complete cast and crew credits.

The cast:

The Dying Father--Jason Robards
His Young Wife--Julianne Moore
The Caretaker--Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Boy Genius--Jeremy Blackman
His Father--Michael Bowen
The Game Show Host--Philip Baker Hall
The Daughter--Melora Walters
The Mother--Melinda Dillon
The Ex-Boy Genius--William H. Macy
The Police Officer in Love--John C. Reilly

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At three hours long, Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia qualifies as an epic, with a broad scope of characters whose lives become entwined over the course of a day in the San Fernando Valley. Despite its vast canvas, though, this is probably one of the most intimate epics you'll ever experience, because Anderson and his cast of actors delve into their characters so deeply that you feel you instantly know them. Anderson's screenplay of Magnolia is similar--a few pages in, you'll be hooked by the story and the characters. Numerous critics have derided Anderson's talents as a screenwriter while praising him to the skies as a director, but the screenplay for Magnolia shows a filmmaker at work with a keen eye for character development and a penchant for both brilliant monologues and amazingly deft one-liners. And unlike most published screenplays (which bill themselves as a "shooting script" but are in reality just a transcript of the finished product), this screenplay is truly the working script, complete with typos and scenes that didn't make it into the final cut of the film. Reading the screenplay, you'll see Tom Cruise's scenes with Jason Robards become more fleshed out, more scenes from Cruise's motivational workshop on "Seduce and Destroy," and most significantly, a subplot involving whiz kid Stanley Spector and the mysterious character known as "the Worm," who pops up only briefly in the film. Also included are some stunning color photographs and a great interview with Anderson, where you'll find out who gave him the idea of the rain of frogs, which character in the film is his favorite, and why he used a game-show milieu for a large part of the film. Truly a companion piece to the movie, a testament to the vision of a filmmaker, and, as Anderson puts it in his introduction, "an interesting study of a writer writing from his gut." --Mark Englehart

About the Author

Paul Thomas Anderson previously wrote and directed Boogie Nights. A self-taught filmmaker, he began writing as a teenager. His short Cigarettes and Coffee was accepted in the 1993 Sundance Festival Shorts Program, leading to an invitation to develop a feature at Sundance's 1994 Filmmaker's Workshop, with became Hard Eight, his first full-length film. he lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press; First Edition/First Printing edition (January 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557044090
• ISBN-13: 978-1557044099
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Published Screenplay EVER, January 29, 2000

By 

James Chong - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magnolia: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script) (Paperback)

Luckily for me, Paul Thomas Anderson dropped by my favorite bookstore to sign copies of this publication a few days ago. I got a chance to shake the man's hand and tell him what an incredible influence he was on me wanting to write and direct my own films. "Magnolia : The Illustrated Screenplay" has to be the BEST published screenplay EVER. Not only do you get the actual shooting script (as opposed to those cheesy transcriptions of finished movies) but you also get a lengthy, fascinating interview with Anderson as well as a bunch of full color photographs taken behind the scenes of the shoot. But, of course, the best part of the book is the actual writing itself. This screenplay reads more like a complex and quite brilliant novel. As you read, you will undoubtedly be struck with genuine awe at just how Anderson managed to jump back and forth so many times between so many different, multi-layered storylines while still preserving a coherent narrative under the umbrella of a singular underlying theme: redemption. Although he'd be the first to deny it, the man's quite simply a genius.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 90% Chance of Rain, March 2, 2000

By 

Kevin Alphonso (Canton, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magnolia: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script) (Paperback)

Paul Thomas Anderson shows us, yet again, how he can bring together many different characters, involved us in their different circling stories, and not let us lose touch with any one of them.

The shooting script is brilliantly written -- Anderson has developed a wonderful way of describing things and writing dialogue, which can, at times, sound shockingly realistic.

It's a delight for fans of the film, like myself, to read scenes that were deleted from the film, most notably, Stanley Spector meeting the mysterious character "Worm". After reading this part, you understand how it fits into this film.

This is a really well-crafted work of a story, which complements Paul Thomas Anderson's creative talent, and showcases everyday problems like regret, love, fear, and loneliness and shows how touching they can really be.

The pictures at the end of the book are very colorful and gorgeous to look at it, because the capture the feeling of the movie so well.

But, I'm a little dissappointed with the interview with Anderson, which comes after the screenplay. It's interesting to hear him talk about the inspiration for the story and characters. But, it doesn't feel very satisfying, because it feels severely edited, leaving you wanting to know more.

But, that's okay. The screenplay explains it all, giving you a wonderful, heartfelt story about real people struggling with the problems and unusual circumstances in their lives.

If you enjoyed the movie, this book will only make you love it more.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 1, 2000

By 

"814films" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magnolia-Shooting Script -OSI (Newmarket Shooting Script) (Hardcover)

Ok, I apologize that this is refraining from the topic at hand, but never have I been this outraged at the academy awards. For credibility, I am an aspiring filmmaker/screenwriter and I study a lot of films and screenplay. I really enjoyed American Beauty, and then I read the screenplay. I was disappointed and saw this film (American Beauty) was saved from being simply awful from a great director, cinematographer, and cast/crew. It was a very flawed script that had moments of terrible dialogue and little character development. Don't believe me? Think about how there is not a single likable moment for Annette Benning. Even Freddy Kruegger had a few moments of likability.

And then there was Magnolia...

I saw this film and I was literally blown away. I read the screenplay 5 times in the week I got it. The film had great dialogue, wonderful development, and great characters. It was simply beautiful. When I saw it, I hailed it as the best film of the year, the 90's, and quite possibly ever. In the unlikable side, You have Frank TJ Mackey, perfectly portrayed by Tom Cruise. Frank is a sex guru who teaches courses on how to pick up women. Not your hero, right? Slimeball? You bet. But he's a person. How about the dying father who left his wife who was dying to have sex with other women... He realizes that what he has done was terrible, and he didn't ask for forgiveness, he just realizes that tey were mistakes and he has to live with them. Ok, so the point is, as with all of Anderson's characters, that as much as you don't like someone's behavior or lifestyle or whatever, they are just people too. And that is the mark of a truly gifted and beautiful writer. Thank you Paul Thomas Anderson, for making the best cinematic memory for me.