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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 | 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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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Excellent - if you have 3 hours!
I really enjoy this film - it isn't easy watching, it is long, it is undeniably an arthouse film and some people won't like it (including many of the friends I have recommended it to!) However I found the different characters interesting, the whole film is shot beautifully and the range of emotions you go through as you watch it is vast. It is a film that you need to concentrate on, as the dialogue is important to the plots.
Watch it on a rainy evening with the fire on and a bottle of wine! -
News and features
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There Will Be Blood
- 01 Feb 2008
In the beginning there is darkness. And in the darkness, a man with a pickaxe claws at the earth as if he's looking for the way back in. He grunts from such heavy labour but he keeps right on digging. Paul Thomas Anderson's fifth film - his first unalloyed masterpiece, and nothing less than a twentieth century foundation myth - shapes up like this, in stark, primitive strokes and sounds. It will be 15 minutes or more before we hear a line of dialogue. Jonny Greenwood's orchestral score cuts in Read more
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