The only film John C Reilly called comparable to ‘Magnolia’: “No one makes movies like that anymore”
Some actors are great at drama, while others excel at comedy. Every so often, you find that rare unicorn of a performer who can do both. Case in point: John C Reilly.
The American star has been in some of the funniest films of the 21st century, from Step Brothers to Walk Hard to Talladega Nights. Alongside the laughs, he’s also proven he is more than capable of making audiences cry. He has done great work collaborating with Paul Thomas Anderson, including on Boogie Nights, Hard Eight, and perhaps best of all, Magnolia.
Released in 1999, Magnolia is widely regarded as Anderson’s magnum opus. Over a mammoth three hours, it tells the story of a seemingly unrelated group of people living in and around San Francisco, whose lives become ever more intertwined as the narrative plays out. Reilly appears as Jim Curring, a policeman who kicks the film off by finding the body of a woman stashed inside a cupboard. His romance with Claudia (Melora Waters) is one of the core pillars of the film.
Magnolia has dissected and reassembled hundreds of times since it came out. The scene where it rains frogs is a particular favourite of movie scholars, as it’s dripping with biblical imagery and undertones. Reilly received praise for his work too, but in his opinion, there is another movie that he didn’t star in that hit all the same notes.
Speaking with The Guardian, Reilly challenged a question from a reader that asked if Magnolia was a unique product of its time. “You could have said the same thing about Badlands,” he rebuked. “No one makes movies like that any more. But that’s the job of the artist – to push on no matter what it seems like you’re allowed to make. That’s certainly what Paul Thomas Anderson did with Magnolia… Things come in waves: capitalism and the marketplace get the upper hand, but then humanity has this need for stories and honesty in art, and it comes back around. Don’t let yourself get too depressed about the way things are.”
Badlands was released 26 years prior to Magnolia and was directed by fellow auteur Terrence Malick. It stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as Kit and Holly, a pair of young lovers who embark on a ruthless killing spree that also serves as a dark examination of contemporary America.
On the surface, it doesn’t seem like these two movies have anything in common. However, it’s important to remember the context in which Magnolia was released. The horrors of September 11th were still a few years away, so America (and the rest of the world) was a lot more carefree. The issues the characters face aren’t tied to any major global event; they’re small and personal, at a time when that approach to storytelling was still deemed ‘worthy’. In the same way that Badlands takes liberties with serious subjects, Magnolia rejects their seriousness by zeroing in on the minutia.
The rest of the reader’s question implied that, in 2025, movies were too formulaic and lacking in surprise. The truth is, the Badlands and Magnolias of the world are still out there – you just have to look for them a little harder than usual.
