Here's the thing about Magnolia: It is a three hour epic where a lot of people cry and there is very little laughing, depending on the type of person you choose to be. Now, you have two options: If you are unimpressed and wish to not read further,...
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Here's the thing about Magnolia: It is a three hour epic where a lot of people cry and there is very little laughing, depending on the type of person you choose to be. Now, you have two options: If you are unimpressed and wish to not read further, then go on about your business. That is choice A. Choice B is the opposite - you love three hour-long dramas; You're used to them, you've seen the likes of Titanic, and you're the type of person who watches the first three episodes of a TV drama you've snatched on box-sets.

Third choice is you don't really fall in any aforementioned category but wish to see where the hell I'm going with this review anyway.

Magnolia is not a movie for everyone, not even for people who love their movies long and teary. Actually, it is especially not for people who are seriously conservative about their dramas. Why? The ending, which I will not spoil here.

In fact, it is the ending and a scene involving a song that may remind some of Sarah McLachlan (or maybe it's only me) that will have some people scratching their heads while all others who, by then, had given their souls up to the movie, feel their hearts firing excitement.

It is those unorthodox scenes and the very well hidden hints throughout the film (regarding these two events) that may be too much once some moviegoers figure them out. And then there's the fact that the first hours of the film are so emotionally draining.

But here's the thing: I hope that when you watch Magnolia - you open-minded critic; a person who does not judge without digesting, and who does not laugh at others who may have done so prior - you cry, and maybe laugh at its absurd and seemingly unexplainable scenarios, and get something profound out of this movie experience.

Give it a chance, and when you do, watch it again after you finish it the first time. Go back and try to understand the life below its depths and I hope that it was worth it.

magnolia is an amazing movie and a mind blowing experience featuring an all star and my favorite actor (Philip seymour hoffman who gives a terrific performance) and my favorite director (Paul Thomas Anderson who wrote this movie and is very...
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magnolia is an amazing movie and a mind blowing experience featuring an all star and my favorite actor (Philip seymour hoffman who gives a terrific performance) and my favorite director (Paul Thomas Anderson who wrote this movie and is very creative and skilled) this is an amazing movie that you will never forget

Some people will call it pretentious, some bloated and overlong, but I think it's a powerful, excellent film filled with amazing performances. It was 3 hours but it moved along quickly. The overall theme, I believe, is of lost love, or an absence...
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Some people will call it pretentious, some bloated and overlong, but I think it's a powerful, excellent film filled with amazing performances. It was 3 hours but it moved along quickly. The overall theme, I believe, is of lost love, or an absence of it, and the message is one of redemption. All the actors are great, but the two best are probably Philip Baker Hall, who I only knew before as the Library Detective from Seinfeld, as a sickly older man who is the host of a long running game show, and William H. Macy as a former wiz kid on that same show whose life since has been filled with disappointment and loneliness. Hall tries to reunite with his estranged daughter with no luck, and Macy's character, as he says has so much love to give but nowhere to put it. John C. Reilly as a lonely cop, Jason Robards as a dying elderly man and Tom Cruise as his son, a macho sexist **** who has a TV show and Julianne Moore, as Robards' wife and others, all deliver great performances in an outstanding Altman inspired ensemble piece.

Some people will call it pretentious, some bloated and overlong, but I think it's a powerful, excellent film filled with amazing performances. It was 3 hours but it moved along quickly. The overall theme, I believe, is of lost love, or an absence...
[+] Read Full Review

Some people will call it pretentious, some bloated and overlong, but I think it's a powerful, excellent film filled with amazing performances. It was 3 hours but it moved along quickly. The overall theme, I believe, is of lost love, or an absence of it, and the message is one of redemption. All the actors are great, but the two best are probably Philip Baker Hall, who I only knew before as the Library Detective from Seinfeld, as a sickly older man who is the host of a long running game show, and William H. Macy as a former wiz kid on that same show whose life since has been filled with disappointment and loneliness. Hall tries to reunite with his estranged daughter with no luck, and Macy's character, as he says has so much love to give but nowhere to put it. John C. Reilly as a lonely cop, Jason Robards as a dying elderly man and Tom Cruise as his son, a macho sexist **** who has a TV show and Julianne Moore, as Robards' wife and the rest of the large cast, all deliver great performances in an outstanding Robert Altman inspired ensemble piece.