Many have compared Magnolia to Robert Altman's Short Cuts , unjustly favouring the former over the latter. Aspects of the Anderson film are distinctly Altmanesque, just as parts of Boogie Nights came dangerously close to Tarantino or Scorsese. Anderson even attempts to rival Altman's hard-bitten cynicism, presenting us with the most damaged set of characters outside of a Todd Solondz movie. But whereas Solondz's condescension towards his loser characters, if not particularly admirable, at least feels authentic, Anderson strains for some great misanthropy he hasn't yet earned. By comparsion, Anderson deals merely in types and stereotypes.
Magnolia takes potshots at pop culture but adds nothing new to the debate.
We all know that game shows are corrupt and banal, that infomercials are populated by puffed-up cretins and that obnoxious child stars are a product of our sick capitalist culture. The only relief from Magnolia 's relentless bleakness comes at the end, after the annoyingly absurdist plague of frogs, when the policeman salvages a couple of souls. But even that seems conventional. While movies like Fight Club and The Matrix are critiquing the very fabric of our conformist culture, leave it to Anderson to find salvation in a cop. I'm not a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association.