P.T. Anderson: Every Feature Film RANKED

This San Fernando Valley-set epic features a stunning ensemble cast and a truly ambitious narrative interweaving the fates of a variety of characters in their search for meaning.

After the success of Boogie Nights, Anderson was afforded relative carte blanche by New Line Cinema to make whatever he wanted, so P.T.A. set about using this opportunity to the fullest, producing arguably his most ambitious feature, at least narratively speaking.

Featuring Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and many, many more, this sweeping drama takes in a lonely policeman looking for love, a young genius game show, a dying producer and his nurse trying to get in contact with his estranged son, and many more tales, all interrelated and deftly woven together in a spellbinding Californian tapestry.

Amongst the highlights of Magnolia are its biblically inspired final act (I do not wish to spoil it more than that) and Cruise's performance, which is arguably the best of his career. Though its three hour plus run time might be a bit much for some, Magnolia does not lose momentum, managing to effectively balance its stylistic features with compelling drama and characters making it the archetypal Anderson film.