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Frank TJ Mackey
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1999
Original Running Time:
189
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
77
Time Cut:
112
Time Added:
0
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
This is a fanedit which focuses only on the Frank TJ Mackey storyline.
Intention:
I love Magnolia. It's a beautiful, emotional, messy masterpiece. My favorite plot thread by far is the Frank TJ Mackey one. Unlike most movies with multiple plotlines, Magnolia doesn't skip over story beats that you presume happened so I knew that it would actually work on its own. I went back and forth with the frogs but ultimately decided to keep this edit more grounded. I love the original ending because it works thematically with all the stories but it felt off when this is just focused on Earl's death and everything that affects.
Other Sources:
freesound.org sound effects, Magnolia soundtrack
Special Thanks:
Huge thanks to Last Impressions and SInbad for previewing, jswert for DVD cover art, everybody on the forums for being pretty great
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
Commentary track
Editing Details:
I started out by just chopping out the other plotlines. Then I watched through to see if the order of the scenes worked emotionally. There ended up being very, very little rearrangement needed. So it was mostly just working on transitions, redubbed a few parts with different pieces from the soundtrack and repurposed "Wise Up" for the ending.
Cuts and Additions:
Cut everything related to the other plotlines, the frogs and the bookend narration. Lots of trims and tucks, most notably when Earl dies. Because I wanted it to be silent save for the music, I tightened it up quite a bit. Hard to do because Tom Cruise's performance is spectacular but I have all the rest of it in the edit.
User reviews
1 review
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(1)
Audio Editing
9.0(1)
Visual Editing
9.0(1)
Narrative
9.0(1)
Enjoyment
8.0(1)
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
8.0
I am a devotee of PTA. Magnolia is a superb film (despite being 20 minutes too long). This was a good fanedit, focusing on one of the primary story threads of the film, but in the end it felt like it was lacking something. The character arc is intact, but there's no real conclusion, or significant payoff. It just kind of stops unexpectedly, which is actually hilarious because I previously used Magnolia for a Cops Consecution short and I cut that story short abruptly without any sort of resolution to anything. I guess that this film just simply needs to have those frogs, but that means it also needs to have all those other strands in the web.
There were a couple minor editing flaws that I should bring up. During two transitional moments you can hear overlapping audio from excised scenes. First, when Linda enters the pharmacy you hear the final notes of a deleted piece of music. Second, when Frank leaves the interview and right before cutting to Linda and Earl you hear something that shouldn't exist. The biggest odd piece of editing is the ending. Transitioning from Wise Up to Save Me like that was not smooth, and the cut from Linda in the hospital to the credits made me cringe.
I think this would have been better as some sort of two-part fanedit, similar to CBB's "Two Exits From Pan's Labyrinth". Frank TJ Mackey would be Part One, then one of the other major story lines as Part Two, perhaps Stanley Spector. But, this wasn't a bad edit, it just fell a little flat.
There were a couple minor editing flaws that I should bring up. During two transitional moments you can hear overlapping audio from excised scenes. First, when Linda enters the pharmacy you hear the final notes of a deleted piece of music. Second, when Frank leaves the interview and right before cutting to Linda and Earl you hear something that shouldn't exist. The biggest odd piece of editing is the ending. Transitioning from Wise Up to Save Me like that was not smooth, and the cut from Linda in the hospital to the credits made me cringe.
I think this would have been better as some sort of two-part fanedit, similar to CBB's "Two Exits From Pan's Labyrinth". Frank TJ Mackey would be Part One, then one of the other major story lines as Part Two, perhaps Stanley Spector. But, this wasn't a bad edit, it just fell a little flat.
N