Magnolia-Shooting Script -OSI (Newmarket Shooting Script) by Paul Thomas Anderson

by Paul Thomas Anderson

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

Genres: Film, Media Tie In, Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Paul Thomas Anderson is a five-time Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker.

Reviews

[Ayz · Rating 5 out of 5]

coke-fueled cinematic greatness set in the valley. oh, and that powerful ending… surreal and inevitable.

[orion]

loved the part of the closing interview where pta mentions the value of straightforward dialogue (w reference to stanley’s final lines to his dad) … one of the most impactful parts of the movie for that exact reason !!! it’s incredible how closely the final cut of the film follows this script (with the exception of cruise as tj mackey … truly robbed of that oscar .. not that the original dialogue WOULDNT have worked but mannn his changes really make that storyline and character something special) . i need to watch this again

[Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

The film’s a masterpiece, and the screenplay’s virtually identical apart from a handful of short scenes (mostly a more fleshed out Worm subplot) which PTA smartly excised either in production or post-.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnolia reads like a collection of prayers.
Unimpeachable logic.
Loss and longing woven beautifully into a blended metaphor.
I never turn away the chance to live within the allegory of these characters lives for a couple of hours. The same joy/ fulfillment invades me when I watch Dr. Stranglove. I can't explain the connection., It's there for me.

"I'm the kind of person who confuses melancholy With depression"

"It's a dangerous thing to confuse children with angels "


"The book says, "We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

S/o my ex for gifting me this.

Such a gratifying read. I really appreciate being able to read a (high) man’s meditation on love and grief through a fast paced, ensemble story that’s way too long, has a million camera directions and director’s notes, and is riddled with typos. Fiona Apple’s impact was obviously so important to this.

The vision was so real. Perfect movie. I’m geeking.

[Nic Lishko · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite films and a great script! Love to read this when I'm working on character pieces.

[Joe Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Thomas Anderson's impossible turmoil of not being able to write after the success of "Boogie Nights" (1997) and creating a deeply emotional and personal film that got bigger and bigger as it kept going, with no help from New Line Cinema as they basically said "Hey, here is a fuck ton of money, literally make any movie you want that we have no control over."

[Conner Haagenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first screenplay I ever bought and it was well worth it. PTA is a modern day fucking genius screenwriter, easily one of the best (maybe even in history). Great screenplay to a wonderful movie and it’s interesting to follow along with while watching the film.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the self-referentiality and the intercutting between so many storylines. It's a pity the grammar and punctuation was so terrible.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this Summer 2001. Blew my mind. Still love this film. Glutton for cinematic punishment.

[Irie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime

[Cameron K]

Paperback from Shaker Mill Books

[AJW · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Magnolia' is one of my all-time favourite movies. I've watched it a dozen times or so. And I've watched all the extras on the 2-disc DVD set.

I got the shooting script to identify the changes from P.T.Anderson's original conception to the finished film, as well as wanting to find out any more back story to the wonderful characters in the film.

On the whole, the film follows the script closely. The biggest difference is a secondary character called Worm who doesn't appear in the film apart from a mention in the kid's rap to the cop, and he ties a few loose ends that are in the film. Tom Cruise seems to change his lines a bit, while nearly everyone else sticks to the words written here. Earl's monologues are longer in the script.

I wouldn't recommend reading this script unless you've seen the film. But if you loved the film, then I recommend reading this.

Plus there's an informative interview with P.T.Anderson at the back of this book.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the initial reading of Magnolia, you will be lost. There is no hope in trying to understand the first twenty pages before continuing, as the beginning is very condensed and mish-mosh. The script has a huge implied meaning to it that's much deeper than the scenes you read, and takes a bit of analyzing after you've finished. A second reread may help to ease it quite a bit. But for anyone who enjoys a great story and can stand reading scripts, this is a definite necessity.
Anderson's style of writing reflects how he thinks: a little too quickly. The beginning of the script could have been slowed down and had a bit more of an explanation and familiarity with the characters, but it was rushed. Knowing when to slow down can make all the difference in any writing.

[J. Argyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it has been over a decade since I read this I remember being interested in the differences between the script and the final film. The only other thing I remember is that the interview is fairly interesting and that there are some more in depth explanations of several key moments near the end of the film that were cut for one reason or another.

[Nick Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s basically two movies in one in terms of length, so it can feel like you’re on fumes for that last act, but man does this thing sing.

All the story beats are where they belong, the themes are epic — covenantally epic — and the characters, in their sheer conception, are an ode to what cocaine and genius can do when crossed with Fiona Apple.

[Joshua Nomen-Mutatio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Studied the film rather closely in a film class I took in which we studied the films of Ingmar Bergman, Kurosawa, David Lynch and P.T. Anderson. Great course, great films, great script to read along with P.T. Anderson's film Magnolia.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading this screenplay is alot like watching the movie. it's all over the place, difficult, yet truly engaging.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent movie, weaving backward and forward through time ... until it starts raining frogs at the end.

[Manuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best screenplay ever.

[Mike Raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest written original screenplay to date. Your argument is invalid.