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Magnolia
Los Angeles police officer Jim Kurring investigates a disturbance at a woman's apartment, finding a body in a closet. Dixon, a neighborhood boy, unsuccessfully tries to tell him who committed the murder. Jim goes to the apartment of Claudia Wilson, whose neighbors called the police after she argued with her estranged father, Jimmy Gator, and blasted music while snorting cocaine. Seemingly oblivious, Jim asks her on a date.
Jimmy hosts a quiz show called What Do Kids Know?, where children and adults compete against each other, and is dying of cancer. The newest child prodigy on the show, Stanley Spector, is hounded by his father Rick for the prize money and demeaned by the adults, who prevent him from using the bathroom during a commercial break. When the show resumes, Stanley wets himself. As the show continues, a drunken Jimmy sickens, ordering the show to go on after he collapses. After Rick berates him, Stanley runs away.
Former What Do Kids Know? champion Donnie Smith, whose parents took all his prize money, has been fired from his job and is in love with a male bartender with braces. Donnie wants to get braces himself, thinking the bartender will love him back. He hatches a plan to steal the money from his former boss for the surgery.
The show's former producer, Earl Partridge, is also dying of cancer, only faster than Jimmy. Earl's trophy wife, Linda, collects his prescriptions while he is cared for by a nurse, Phil Parma. Earl asks Phil to find his estranged son, Frank Mackey, a coarse but charismatic motivational speaker and pickup artist. Frank is interviewed by a journalist who knows Frank took care of his dying mother after Earl left. Frank storms out of the interview, after which Phil tries to contact him.
Linda goes to see Earl's lawyer, hoping to change his will. She married Earl for his money, but now genuinely loves him and does not want it. The lawyer suggests she renounce the will and decline the money, which would go to Frank. Linda rejects his advice and berates Phil for seeking out Frank, but later apologizes. She drives to a vacant parking lot and attempts suicide by drug overdose. Dixon finds Linda near death in the car, takes the money from her purse, and calls an ambulance.
Jim loses his gun while trying to catch a suspect. When he meets Claudia, they promise to be honest with each other, so he confesses his ineptitude as a cop and admits he has not been on a date since he divorced three years earlier. Claudia says he will hate her because of her problems, but Jim assures her that her past does not matter. They kiss, but she leaves him.
Jimmy goes home to his wife, Rose, and confesses that he cheated on her. She asks why Claudia does not talk to him, and Jimmy admits that Claudia believes he molested her. Rose demands to know if it is true, but Jimmy says he cannot remember. Disgusted, Rose leaves him and he too decides to commit suicide. Elsewhere, Donnie steals the money, but when he decides to return it due to his conscience, he cannot get back inside the office. While Donnie climbs a utility pole to the roof to try to return the money, Jim sees him and feels compelled to investigate.
Suddenly, frogs begin falling from the sky. One of them hits Donnie, he falls from the pole, smashes his teeth and is pulled to safety by Jim. Linda's ambulance crashes near the hospital. As Jimmy is about to shoot himself, frogs fall through his skylight, causing him to shoot the television and cause a house fire. Rose crashes her car near Claudia's apartment but makes it inside and reconciles with her daughter. Earl is awakened and sees Frank beside him before dying.
The next day, Jim's lost gun falls from the sky, after which he helps Donnie return the money. Frank goes to the hospital to be with Linda, who will recover. Stanley tells Rick that he needs to be nicer to him, but Rick just tells him to go to bed. Jim goes to see Claudia, telling her he wants to make things work between them. As Jim is explaining this, Claudia glances into the camera and smiles.