Product Description: An intriguing and entertaining study in characters going through varying levels of crisis and introspection. This psychological drama leads you in several different directions weaving and intersecting various subplots and characters from a brilliant Tom Cruise as a self-proclaimed pied-piper to a child forced to go on a TV game show and the pressures he faces from a ruthless father.Running Time: 188 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794043109607 Manufacturer No: N10960
Amazon.com: A handful of people in the San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed; his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is popping pills with alarming frequency. Earl's nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl's only son, sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), who's about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show What Do Kids Know? Meanwhile, Stanley's predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of What Do Kids Know?, the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain.
This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) is a maddening, magnificent piece of filmmaking, and it's an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman--every little piece of the film means something, and it's solidly there for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that's amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of Magnolia is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it's been far too long since we've seen a filmmaker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful, and this electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise's revelatory performance to Reilly's quietly powerful turn as the moral center of the story. While at three hours it's definitely not suited to everyone's taste, Magnolia is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful mediation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. Featuring eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including "Save Me." --Mark Englehart
movie funny how 9 years ago, when the movie first came out.I did'nt care for the movie at all.I liked Tom Cruise,that was the draw to the movie.But now 9 years later, I watched the movie again,and this time I have to say that I liked it.I still don't understand the frog scenes.
An excellent and well managed ensemble film, very worth seeing, but I wish Anderson would have edited his material differently P.T. Anderson's 1999 film MAGNOLIA is one heck of an ensemble drama. Its main characters include a dying television executive (Jason Robards), his nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman), his wife (Julianne Moore), a LAPD police officer (John C. Reilly), a game show host (Philip Baker Hall), his coked-up daughter (Melora Walters), a sleazy "how to score with women" guru (Tom Cruise, in the best performance of his career), a child prodigy (Jeremy Blackman), and a former child prodigy (William H. Macy). Over the course of one day in San Fernando Valley the relationships between them are shown through a series of fateful encounters. The great theme of MAGNOLIA is the sins of the fathers visited upon their children. The film has a surprise ending, which works as a deus ex machina, not only resolving all the different plot strands in one instant, but also symbolizing God's intervening hand, freeing the younger characters so that they may live their own lives.
MAGNOLIA is a powerful film. As a young man I saw it many times in the theatre when it came out, and I continue to watch it on DVD often enough. There is a fine screenplay, often praiseworthy acting, impressive cinematography, and a great soundtrack by Aimee Mann. That said, after developing a better understanding of the world of film (I've become something of a 1960s auteur film snob), I am more critical of it. Unlike many who find fault with the film, I don't think that the film overstays its welcome at 3 hours. However, the opening, where Anderson presents three (pseudo-)historical tales of amazing coincidences, is entertaining enough, but it could have easily been cut without affecting the main of the film. What Anderson should not have cut, on the other hand, is the subplot involving Orlando Jones as an inner-city murderer, elements of which have been left in but which make little sense without the whole.
If you are a fan of the film, the two-disc edition is well worth getting. The extra Frank "T.J." Mackey material is hilarious, and the making-of documentary, far from being promotional fluff like all too many, is relevatory about Anderson's film-making process.
A Game Of Psychological Pick-Up Sticks "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
Eleven people caught in LA who's lives intertwine during the film. A film of such magnitude that I had to stop and try to put pieces together. I have seen this film three times and each time am struck by the brilliance of director, Paul Anderson. How did he keep all of these characters in place and put together?
One life runs into another and another. Great performances all. Need, love, humanness, forgiveness, anger, hate, joy, are all brought to the fore within these characters. Tom Cruise in one of his best performances as the crude Frank- 'The Cock Has It'. Jason Robards as the drying man so loved and hated. Julianne Moore as his young wife, hooked on drugs and trying to find her place in life. Philip Seymour has the nurse who loves his patient and tries to do all he can to fulfill their last wishes. John C Riley, as the cop trying to find love and truth . William Macy as the child prodigy quiz kid who never grows up. Phillip Baker Hall as the TV quiz master who has cheated and lied and wants forgiveness as he is dying. Their are other connections, the young quiz kid who wants his father to be nicer to him. The father who wants his kid to bring him fame and fortune. The young woman hooked on cocaine trying to forget her life. All of these lives come together and in the final minutes of the film the skies open up and all have their lives in front of them.
"Magnolia"makes it three-for-three for writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson, 29, who follows Hard Eight and Boogie Nights with his most ardent and ambitious movie yet. Anderson keeps a tight lid on his work so that audiences can approach his character-based dramas with a sense of discovery. Fair enough. Magnolia is one of the best movies of the year - startling, innovative, hugely funny and powerfully, courageously moving." Peter Travers
Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 04-16-08
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Masterpiece. This movie astounded me when I saw it. The acting is brilliant. The cinematography is brilliant. And the script.....wow! I think Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the best American directors and hopefully over time and through his career which is already amazing (There Will BE Blood, Boogie NIghts, Punch DRunk Love, Hard EIght) he will be included alongside other great American Directors such as John Huston and Robert Altman. For the people that find it too long and boring, you must just have different tastes in movies or sumthing. Because I have watched this movie like ten minutes and the film moves so fast that I was barely aware that I was watching this movie for three hours.
Oh, puhleeeeze Overhyped, overly long (took me 5 or 6 viewings to even get through it), over-acted, and yes, BORING. The falling frogs does not "save" the film, but only highlights what pretentious crap it is. Cruise manages to shine, delivering an energetic and overall excellent performance. Save your time and money though. And be weary of all the great reviews. It seems like they have an "Emperor's New Clothes" type of feel. In the future, I will try to avoid movies billed as "ambitious". Yuck!
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