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Magnolia
1999
In a single day in Los Angeles, a number of interconnected lives are changed forever. A lonely police officer (John C. Reilly) falls in love with a disturbed cocaine addict (Melora Walters). Her father (Philip Baker Hall), the host of the game show "What Do Kids Know Read more
| Starring | Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, April Grace |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Genres | Drama |
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Magnolia
In a single day in Los Angeles, a number of interconnected lives are changed forever. A lonely police officer (John C. Reilly) falls in love with a disturbed cocaine addict (Melora Walters). Her father (Philip Baker Hall), the host of the game show "What Do Kids Know
| Starring | Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, April Grace, Luis Guzman, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Orlando Jones |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Studio | ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 3 hrs 6 mins Blu-ray: 3 hrs 8 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: 11 Sep 2007 Blu-ray: unknown Production year: 1999 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) seals his growing reputation as one of Hollywood's most ambitious and audacious film-makers with this dark, daring and dazzling take on Robert Altman's Short Cuts. Boldly tossing storytelling conventions out the window, Anderson's offbeat epic charts 24 hours in the weird and wonderful lives of a dozen San Fernando Valley inhabitants. The cast is superb, with Tom Cruise's supremely arrogant sex guru standing out. But Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Melora Walters, John C Reilly and William H Macy are also brilliant in their one-of-a-kind roles. Although the running time is a little indulgent, the film's increasingly frantic pace, manic camerawork and unpredictable scenarios command the attention, while the climactic foray into Twilight Zone territory will leave you gasping.
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Anderson's meandering multi-story megasoap with a message is over-ambitious, self-conscious, self-indulgent,... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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37 out of 41 people found this review helpful
mixed views..
I have trouble reviewing films like this. I was really unsure what rating to give this.
It is, without doubt, a very inventive piece of filmmaking from Paul Thomas Andersen.. the characters are well developed and the storylines are interesting. At the beginning you feel a bit confused, but then you realise that the film isn't asking too much of it's audience, you just need to sit back and enjoy the different storylines (some of which collide later on, but not in some important Tarantinoesque way, they just naturally collid).
So, if I was to be a typical film buff I could call this film genius and all the rest of it; but I will restrain myself because the truth is.. I didn't enjoy it enough.
The film is 2hr 54mins long.. after two hours it does start to drag; despite the nine different stories going on. I'd say the first two hours are very very good, very original (well, maybe.. it does afterall steal quite heavily from Altman's 'Short Cuts') and entertaining.. but towards the end it just seems to try and be a bit too deep. The character arcs are a bit too blatent and the audience is force-fed this emotional journey of self-discovery within the characters. These moments of self-realisation could have been a little bit more subtle. I mean- anyone who is truly enjoying 'Magnolia' is going to be a film fan who can intelligently read the text- therefore there's no need to turn to a layman piece of filmmaking near the end. Unfortunately, it did.. and that bothers me. It bothers me because i'd already sat there for over two hours and I thought the film was the greatest thing ever.. and then it dipped quite strongly.
That's just my opinion. By all means- see it, make up your own minds.. afterall any film by this writer-director is always going to be worth seeing.
dan
dj152@aol.com -
Most recent members' review
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20 out of 22 people found this review helpful
Wonderful
I don't know about you but I have a simple way of judging a film, music or art. If it makes me feel something it's a job well done. Magnolia does this for me. All of the characters, compromised in some way or another, meander through a set of circumstances until the films conclusion with the soundtrack of Amy Manns voice and guitar washing over the life of each one of them in the film.
Remember the first time you walked down the street listening to your walkman and the whole landscape changes.That's what happens here. I had an overwelming empathy for all the characters in this and follow the careers of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Juliane Moore since this because the acting was outstanding.
If you watched Donnie Darko and can honestly say that, not understanding it ruined everything, then don't watch this film. If you consult a book everytime you have a strange dream because you need to understand everything about it,don't watch this film. If, like me you enjoy life, stranger than fiction, then rent this immediately.
It changed my life, a little. Wonderful and inspiring. -
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