Genre: Drama, Love, Drugs, Tear Jerker, Supernatural, Gay/Lesbian, Police, Psychodrama, Urban
Tagline: Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.
Plot: 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?" has terminal cancer and tries to make amends for his past mistakes. A former champion of the show (William H. Macy) struggles to find love while the current champion (Jeremy Blackman) suffocates under the pressures of being a boy genius. An elderly man (Jason Robards) lies on his deathbed, tended by nurse Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), while his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) wrestles with grief and guilt, and his estranged son (Tom Cruise), an infomercial host, teaches workshops on how to trick women into having sex. Throughout all of this, past deeds are lamented and strange forces loom in the air.Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow-up to BOOGIE NIGHTS is an extravagant, emotional epic inspired by such films as Robert Altman's NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS, with a sprawling cast of characters searching for love and meaning in a chaotic world. The cast delivers uniformly excellent performances, most notably Tom Cruise’s Oscar-nominated role as the sleazy Frank T.J.
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 MAGNOLIA isn't going to change the world, not by a long shot. MAGNOLIA is also not going to be able to speak to everybody. As a matter of fact, most conventional moviegoers may find it too weird or depressing to take. But for those in tune with what the film is about, perhaps it's a film that can change a life. And while the fact that it isn't ashamed to pull out all stops trying is commendable, the fact that it succeeds so brilliantly at it is testament of it's greatness.  --Vince Leo (Qwipster.net)
"Magnolia" keeps you engaged by it's raw power and emotion, but with a running time of 3 hours and 8 minutes, it starts to wear on you (and your bladder!). William H. Macy's pathetic character cleverly foreshadows one possible future for Blackman's childgenius, but his storyline is the weakest and could easily have been cut to make a tighter film.  --Scott Mantz (MovieMantz.com)
Does the film NEED to be three hours long? It's a moot point. It would be impossible to tell all these stories in less time; the question is, do ALL these stories need to be told? I say no, although I was honestly interested in each of them. I just wish they'd all added up to more, and that "Magnolia" itself had meant more than it did. B--Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com)
Many contemporary films deal with loneliness, bitterness and despair -- "Short Cuts", "American Beauty" and "Happiness" are among the most acclaimed. "Magnolia" is better than all of them because its confidence and passion is so much louder. At times, itcreates emotions so extreme it's like our hair is being pulled. But I don't go to the movies to feel unmoved.  --Ian Waldron-Mantgani (The UK Critic)
"Magnolia" is the kind of film I instinctively respond to. Leave logic at the door. Do not expect subdued taste and restraint, but instead a kind of operatic ecstasy. At three hours it is even operatic in length, as its themes unfold, its characters strive against the dying of the light, and the great wheel of chance rolls on toward them. --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
The film has a beautiful, fluid, Scorsese-like style, and its far-reaching ambition reminds me of Robert Altman's "Short Cuts". The performances are engaging, although sometimes exaggerated. A--Jeffrey Overstreet
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 | Tom Cruise
War of the Worlds, Minority Report, Jerry Maguire |
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 | Jason Robards
Once Upon a Time in the West, Philadelphia, All the President's Men |
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| Music By |
Jon Brion
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch-Drunk Love, I Heart Huckabees |
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| The film’s narrative structure is amazingly complex... 4+/4 --Jeremy Heilman
Like a Kubrick film, some at first will hate Magnolia. However, 20 years from now, those same people who said they hated it will realize its groundbreaking brilliance and say they loved it all along. --Donlee Brussel
You'll either hate or love Magnolia. It will either move you emotionally or move you to exit the theater. At three hours plus, Magnolia definitely doesn't skimp on the character development. And after it's all said and done, Paul Thomas Anderson has a classic on his hands. The careful editing and panning between characters has paid off as P.T. Anderson delivers a great movie that tops his previous masterpiece Boogie Nights in splendor and beauty. 10/10--Blake Kunisch
Magnolia carefully balances its story lines and characters, cutting back and forth with artful expertise to slowly build a composite tale. It's been a winter of overly long films, but Magnolia is one that deserves to take all the time it needs...Magnoliaoffers a wealth of riches, including startling moments of happenstance that are best left as surprises. I'll guarantee you've never seen anything like them on or off the screen. 10/10--Jack Garner
Magnolia touches on hope, redemption, kindness, parenting, love and fear during its three hour journey. But above all, Magnoilia is about guilt and conscience, and the havoc that bottled culpability can do to a soul. With more loose ends than you can shake a stick at, the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson's could cram this much intelligent indulgence in one functional, exquisite epic is remarkable. --Gerard Choucroun
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