Magnolia | 2000
- Locations |
- Los Angeles, California;
- Nevada
- DIRECTOR |
- Paul Thomas Anderson
Like Boogie Nights, the director’s previous film, Magnolia is set in the director’s own neighbourhood, the San Fernando Valley, of Burbank, North Hollywood and Van Nuys, north of Los Angeles.
‘Magnoliafan’ is the ultimate put-down for Kevin Smith afficionados, but Valley boy Paul Thomas Anderson’s daring, multi-centred drama barrels through its three-hour running time with blistering energy, carrying a clutch of career-best performances on board.
There's a brief detour to Reno, Nevada, for the opening casino scene, and to Big Bear Lake, California, for the story of the diver found in a tree.
The film is named for Magnolia Boulevard, one of the Valley’s main east-west thoroughfares, on which you’ll find the bar in which one-time Quiz Kid Donnie (William H Macy) declares his love for Brad the Barman. The Foxfire Room, 12516 Magnolia Boulevard at Whitsett Avenue is in Valley Village, north of Studio City.
Good-natured cop Jim Kurring (John C Reilly) is caught by the unexpected frog deluge as he drives along Reseda Boulevard. The ‘Solomon & Solomon’ store, where he spots Donnie trying to climb a telegraph pole after the clumsy robbery, is LA Popular Alliances, 7222 Reseda Boulevard at Sherman Way in Reseda.
It’s in downtown Los Angeles itself that you’ll find the nine-story building where the unsuccessful suicide of the prologue becomes a successful homicide. The Bryson Apartment Hotel, 2701 Wilshire Boulevard was seen also in Stephen Frears’ excellent The Grifters.
