Director Paul Thomas Anderson - The Next Scorsese?

Paul Thomas Anderson - On the meaning of the ending of Magnolia.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has only made four films that have been released theatrically with his fifth film due this Christmas. His rise came around the same time as that of such directors as Wes Anderson, David O. Russell and Alexander Payne. And while those men have worked more frequently, Anderson has garnered the most attention and is frequently compared to the likes of Scorsese, Coppola, Kubrick and Spielberg in the early part of their careers (Anderson cites Scorsese and Jonathan Demme as his biggest influences) - and rightly so. Anderson has crafted four terrific films, two of them considered masterpieces that he made before he was 30 years old.

Anderson is known as a confident director who loves actors and it is no surprise that he often employs the same actors again and again. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William Macy, Julianne Moore and Phillip Baker Hall are among those to have jumped on the Anderson bandwagon more then once.

In his first four films Anderson has twice been nominated for Best Screenplay Academy Awards, has won the Best Director at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and has directed his actors to three acting nominations. He also single handedly resurrected the slumping careers of Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg.

Anderson's artistic genes came from his father, Ernie, a late night horror movie host which made him a local celebrity. Later they moved to the San Fernando Valley where Anderson's experience of seeing lost souls, all dreaming of movie stardom, wandering the streets, helped shape what would become many of his characters in his films set in the very Valley that he grew up in.

At the age of 18 Anderson made The Dirk Diggler Story, a Spinal Tap-type mockumentary about a particularly anatomically gifted man who becomes a star in the adult film business. He would enroll in the NYU film program but dropped out less than a week later. He would take his tuition refund and make a very small film called Cigarettes & Coffee that told five different stories of people sitting in a diner at different booths. The film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and garnered critical acclaim and would lead Anderson on his first step down the path as one of our great young directors.

Hard Eight, (1996), tells the story of a loser in Las Vegas who is befriended by a fellow named Sydney. A bond develops between the two and soon Sydney is teaching John, the loser, how to be a successful small time gambler. Things get complicated when John falls in love with a cocktail waitress and part-time hooker with a pimp you don't mess with. The film was a strong debut though the independent studio had no idea how to market it. First they changed the film's original title, Sydney, to its current title against Anderson's wishes. The film was a hit with critics but failed at the box office. Anderson blamed the producers fully believing the film's new title sounded more like a porno film.

The strengths of the film led Anderson to his next project but he was unsure what that would be. After careful deliberations Anderson decided to return to his first film, The Dirk Diggler Story, and take all the humor out of it and make it a serious epic on the adult film world and the dark and sometimes seedy world with sometimes dark and seedy characters that inhabit it. Titled Boogie Nights, Anderson crafted a film masterpiece and announced to the movie world his film genius at the age of 27.

In the film Mark Wahlberg plays a young man from Torrence, California who is discovered by a top adult film director (Burt Reynolds in the role of his career) and soon becomes a huge star and finds that stardom in the business leads to drugs, murder and even suicide. The film spans the 70's and 80's covering many different characters and populating the film with wall to wall music from the era. In an effort to prevent the studio from changing the title on him like his previous work, Anderson purposely opens the film with a shot of a marquee with the film's title on it and then, in one long magnificent shot, the camera angles down to a car on the street leading to a nightclub and then into the nightclub where we will meet every major character in the film. The film was lauded by critics and did fairly well at the box office. Anderson would receive his first writing Academy Award nomination while Reynolds would get his first acting nomination of his career. While many believe Reynolds deserved to win (he lost to Robin Williams for Good Will Hunting) he no doubt hurt his chances when he publicly blasted Anderson (the two did not get along) and complained that the second half of the film was "crap." Julianne Moore would also get an acting nomination for the film.

In 1999 Anderson did what few directors are even capable of - following up a masterpiece with another masterpiece. Magnolia opens with a narration in which coincidence plays a heavy factor in each. The film then comes forward to present day as we follow nine different characters and their stories over a period of 24 hours in Los Angeles. The film owed more then a little to Robert Altmans's Nashville with its multi-layered stories that brought the different characters together in a small time frame. The film featured Anderson's usual players plus Jason Robards, Melinda Dillon and Tom Cruise as a most unlikable woman hater. Cruise would earn an Academy Award nomination for his role. The film, at just under three hours, is an epic but a fascinating one at that culminating in a single sequence near the end that keeps viewers in discussion for a long time after. Anderson would earn his second writing nomination for the film he believes will be the best film he ever makes.

In 2002 Anderson made a bold move for his next film, Punch-Drunk Love, by casting Adam Sandler against type in the role of a small business owner just trying to get through life. He enjoys calling sex phone companies until one starts to harass him and has a temper problem that keeps him from having a relationship. He also has six sisters which help to complicate his life and usually prevent him from keeping his temper in control. One day he meets a woman just outside his business and soon they take a journey together hoping to find love on the other side. The film is not for everyone's tastes and Anderson keeps some things unclear allowing for the viewer to decide what certain things mean. Anderson does get Sandler to give a terrific performance as the troubled businessman who would love to be in love. The film received Anderson's usual strong reviews but this time he had a bona fide hit thanks to Sandler's legions of fans who undoubtedly entered the film with no clue as to what to expect.

This Christmas Anderson's newest film hits theaters. There Will Be Blood, loosely based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel OIL! Tells the story of a silver miner who becomes an oil baron and slowly turns into a ruthless tycoon willing to do anything for an extra dollar in his pocket. Daniel Day-Lewis stars in the film and the advanced word is that Anderson has created yet another film masterpiece. That remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that the film opens with a 20 minute sequence with no dialogue whatsoever. The film is brutal in its attacks on morality and its depiction of graphic violence with word that Day-Lewis gives another tremendous performance.

Whether or not the film will live up to expectations, whether or not audiences will seek it out, whether or not Anderson delivers again, well, that remains to be seen. Judging from his history it is safe to assume audiences can be prepared for a strong film for adults with a serious subject matter. It's the least we can expect from a man some are calling the next Martin Scorsese.