Magnolia (1999)

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!

Mixed feelings on a well made made mess
I'll count myself in the minority who don't think this movie is completely brilliant or alternately a waste of celluloid.

No one can deny that P. T. Anderson is ambitious in the scope and style of the story he attempts to tell here. I found the multiple plot lines, acting and themes to be captivating. The final resolution (and the whole film for that matter) was completely original. The melding of music and story was beautiful. Anderson chose well in using Aimee Mann's music to reveal the complex emotions of the characters.

Conversely, the acting (while well done) at times seemed out of place. As an example, the interviewer of Tom cruise's character seemed uncertain of her motivations. This disconnect at times made the characters seem histrionic. Also, the characters lives were so messed up, they failed to resonate with me (and I am guessing many viewers). I also thought some of the plot lines were left unresolved. If the idea was that many disparate events can soemtimes be joined in an odd way I wasn't persuaded.

I did like the Cop who lost his gun. His resulting humility allowed him to accept a girlfriend who had more apparent flaws (drug use). But I think I kind of imagined that. Whcih goes back to my problems with the movie.

But all else being equal, it was a beautiful, haunting and original movie. A masterpeiece? Not IMHO.