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