PT Anderson Commentary
For anyone not familiar with this incredible filmmaker, this can serve as a starting guide. In my opinion he’s that rare distinctive filmmaker who not only has gotten better with each film, but has demonstrated a tremendous range in terms of tone and genre.
Let’s jump right in.
*For anyone not familiar with Rottentomatoes, the score=percentage of positive reviews from critics
Hard Eight (1997)
Domestic gross: 228,000
Rottentomatoes score: 82%
In my opinion, this is Anderson’s weakest film but you can definitely see talent in it, the glimmers of what would eventually be for PT Anderson.
It’s about a career-gambler type named Sydney who takes a seemingly homeless guy named John under his wing.
Dialogue
Watching the film, it feels like Philip Baker Hall’s character Sydney was clearly the inspiration factor of the film, with the other pieces filled in around him.
He speaks very clearly, carefully and behaves himself in a similar way. Everything is neat and precise, from the way he buttons his sleeves to the way he moves.
Spoiler Alert
He’s also revealed late in the game to be an ex-tough guy, in fact, he’s revealed to be the killer of John’s (played by John C. Reilly) father.
Now the film takes its sweet time revealing this to us, and in doing so unfortunately loses some tension that could have been gained had the reveal been sprung around the midpoint.
Budget
It’s fairly clear this is Anderson’s lowest budgeted feature, with a lot of cramped interior settings and long dialogue scenes.
It still works fairly well within those limitations, but the lack of visual pizzazz is definitely felt, especially in comparison with Anderson’s later works.
Heart
One thing that’s neat about Anderson (and distinguishes him from someone like Quentin Tarantino) is that in ALL of his movies you really feel genuine emotion come through. He cares about these characters, and so do you.
When John tells Sydney he loves him, this isn’t exactly news, but because of what we’ve learned about their horrible connection, it is moving.
Boogie Nights (1997)
Worldwide gross: 43 mil
Domestic gross: 26.4 mil
Rottentomatoes score: 96%
Nominated for 3 Oscars (including Anderson’s screenplay nom)
You’ll have to indulge me here, as it’s been some time since I’ve seen Boogie Nights, but I think it’s fair to say it’s a more traditional ensemble piece than the Anderson work that would follow it, Magnolia.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a great movie.
To this day I remember William H. Macy and his absurdly promiscious wife, who was constantly shamelessly cheating on him.
But when I say Boogie Nights is a more traditional, I mean that the lead character (Mark Wahlberg is hung porn star Dirk Diggler) has a rise and fall of a sort of regular biopic to some degree, ending up back where he started.
Visually it’s vibrant, especially compared to the relatively static Hard Eight.
Magnolia (1999)
Worldwide gross: 48.4 mil
Domestic gross: 22.4 mil
Rottentomatoes score: 84%
Nominated for 3 Oscars (including Anderson’s screenplay nom)
Like Boogie Nights, Magnolia also traces an ensemble through related stories. Instead of working in one industry they are all variations on the theme of loneliness.
Unlike Boogie Nights, Magnolia does not end with a standard finale.
Big Spoiler
It ends with a rain of frogs. Literally. Biblically.
Now for a while I didn’t know what to make of this, until I read Roger Ebert’s review.
He explains it very well, so I will lend him the floor here:
“All of these threads converge, in one way or another, upon an event there is no way for the audience to anticipate. This event is not “cheating,” as some critics have argued, because the prologue fully prepares the way for it, as do some subtle references to Exodus. It works like the hand of God, reminding us of the absurdity of daring to plan. And yet plan we must, because we are human, and because sometimes our plans work out.”
-Roger Ebert
It really is breathtaking and daring, a truly original choice.
Great Roles
Also memorable for me were the roles of Tom Cruise as an over-the-top ladies-man guru, Philip Baker Hall as a game show host with some dark edges and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a caring nurse.
Punch Drunk Love (2002)
Worldwide gross: 24.6 mil
Domestic gross: 17.8 mil
Rottentomatoes score: 79%
Adam Sandler nominated for Golden Globe
I suspect people’s skepticism about Adam Sandler playing a dramatic role may have affected the box office for this film.
It’s an absolutely fantastic movie, really a hidden gem.
Adam Sandler absolutely convinces, basically playing the straight version of the angry man-child he plays in his usual comedies.
It’s also a lot of fun in a strangely romantic/dark way.
Sandler plays this repressed guy with a gajillion sisters, who runs into trouble when he calls a late night chat line.
Romance
He also falls in love with Emma Watson, and they somehow make it work despite the fact Sandler’s character is sort of nuts.
It eventually leads them to say sweet nothings to each other in the following conversation.
Watson: “Your face is so adorable, your skin and your cheek, I wanna bite it, I wanna bite your cheek and jaw, so fucking cute.”
Sandler: “I’m looking at your face and I just want to smash it, I just want to fucking smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze it you’re so pretty.”
Watson: “I wanna chew your face and I wanna scoop out your eyes, I wanna eat them, chew them and suck on them.”
Sandler: “Ok. This is funny.”
Watson: “Yeah.”
Sandler: “This is nice.”
All this while sweet, vaguely Hawaiian music plays in the background.
Great movie.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Worldwide gross: 76.1 mil
Domestic gross: 40.2 mil
Rottentomatoes score: 91%
Nominated for 8 Oscars, won 2 (Anderson nominated for script, directing and Best Picture)
Now while Punch Drunk Love is without a doubt a fantastic movie it’s very quirky and character-based, just not the type of thing that will necessarily be remembered as a modern masterpiece of film (even though there’s no reason it couldn’t be) just because it isn’t weighty enough.
Enter There Will Be Blood.
Losing some Oscars to the Coen’s more thematically murky No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood made clear, strong points you could actually wrap your head around.
Daniel Day Lewis played Daniel Plainview, a self-described “oil man”, a force of nature and basically the allegorical stand-in for capitalism.
His antagonist was a preacher played by Paul Dano (aka the allegorical stand in for religion).
The film basically suggests that capitalism and religion are the same, or at least work in similar ways, and the take home message at the end…
spoiler warning
…is that capitalism killed religion (literally, in the film, Plainview kills the preacher with a bowling pin).
Score
The film also features a really freaky, unusual score by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood, which helped suggest the sort of insane, obsessive edge of Plainview.
Dialogue
And somehow Anderson managed to make dialogue about “Drainage!” and “Milkshake” into one of the most frightening and intense scenes of the year. It was goofily parodied quite a bit on Youtube, but it’s a hell of a good scene.
“Drainage! Drainage! Eli, you boy! Drain you dry, I’m so sorry. If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and I have a straw, there it is, watch it, and my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake I drink your milkshake. Sssss! I drink it up!”
Great dialogue and very distinctive.
Acting+Role Construction
In an age of sympathetic protagonists PT Anderson wrote a lead so monstrous he pretty much cared about nothing but himself in his lust for power. He also ends the movie straight-up committing murder and proclaiming “I am the Third Revelation! I am who the Lord has chosen!”
Bottom Line
PT Anderson is a highly distinctive filmmaker, but not in a restricted way. For example, a lot of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Martin Scorsese films can be told pretty quickly to come from those guys. Their visual styles are trademarks, and sometimes the story choices are pretty similar.
But apart from the similarities between Boogie Nights and Magnolia, PT has made 5 really distinct, different films.
They move at different paces, utilize different visual styles, employ different tones, and cover different thematic ground.
They’re also great movies.
Here’s looking forward to whatever he does next.