Magnolia (1999)

"...the only true end-of-the-millennium masterpiece...  Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News
"Marks the arrival of a great, if not the greatest, modern director...  Derek Smith, Cinematic Reflections
"The performances are all around great, with everyone fitting perfectly into their given role.  Greg Dean Schmitz, Greg's Previews
"...an audacious, hilarious, deeply affecting three-hour tapestry.  Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"An epic of human proportions.  Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Editor's Note 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. Mackey.

	Alfred Molina
	Jason Robards
	John C. Reilly
	Julianne Moore
	Philip Baker Hall
	Philip Seymour Hoffman
	Tom Cruise
	William H. Macy
	Dylan Tichenor - Editor
	Jon Brion - Original Music By
	Michael De Luca - Executive Producer
	Paul Thomas Anderson - Producer
	Paul Thomas Anderson - Director
	Paul Thomas Anderson - Writer
	Robert Elswit - Cinematographer

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling epic concerning a day in the life of many San Fernando Valley residents is an ambitious, highly emotional effort.

"...And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just, 'something that happened.' This cannot be, 'one of those things.' This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can't. This was not just a matter of chance. These strange things happen all the time."----Opening narration by actor Ricky Jay, after the strange death of Sydney Barringer

"In this life, it's not what you hope for, it's not what you deserve----it's what you take."----Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise)

"You wanna kiss me, Jim?"----Claudia Wilson Gator (Melora Walters)|"Yes, I do."----Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly)

"Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?"----Claudia to Jim

"I know this sounds silly, and I know that I might sound ridiculous, like this is the scene in the movie where the guy's trying to get a hold of the long--lost son, you know, but this is that scene. This is that scene, and I think they have those scenes in movies because they're true, you know, because they really happen. And you've got to believe me, this is really happening."----Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman) on the phone looking for Frank

"As the book says, we may be through with the past, but the past ain't though with us."----Ending narration by Ricky Jay (echoed throughtout the film)

Variety
"...A major work highly in tune with the zeitgeist..." p.105-6

Rolling Stone
Ranked #5 in Rolling Stone's "Ten Best Movies of 1999" -- "...[An] emotional powerhouse..." 01/20/2000 p.63-4

Entertainment Weekly
"...A showy flower of a movie....The big emotions bring out the best in a stellar cast..." -- Rating: B 01/21/2000 p.83

Premiere
"...Jaw-dropping audacity....MAGNOLIA's a source of astonishment..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 09/01/2000 pp.84-5

Box Office
"...All performances are flawless....Artful...[With a] heartbreakingly dead-on insight into the human condition..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/2000 p.59

Los Angeles Times
"...It's an impressive piece of work with some fine acting..." 12/17/1999 p.C1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...MAGNOLIA is operatic in its ambition, a great, joyous leap into melodrama and coincidence....As its themes unfold, its characters strive against the dying of the light, and the great wheel of chance rolls on toward them..." 01/07/2000 p.21

Total Film
"Cruise isn't just self-mocking: his Mackey is fully realised." 07/01/2006 p.136

ReelViews 9 of 10
With Magnolia, director Paul Thomas Anderson has segued into the realm of the three hour movie. It's an ambitious step to take - making lengthy, ensemble movies with tangentially related and occasionally interconnected storylines can be a risky endeavor, both creatively and financially. When it works and everything snaps into focus, the rewards can be great...Fortunately, Anderson has a deft hand when it comes to filmmaking, and this project does not tax his talent beyond the breaking point. Magnolia is a fascinating and worthwhile motion picture that manages to keep viewers interested in the plights of ten different characters for nearly its full length - right up to and through the improbable climax...Magnolia is admittedly not for everyone, but those who "get" the film are in for something that ranks as more of a cinematic experience than a mere movie. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 8 of 10
Paul Thomas Anderson is undoubtedly one of the most talented filmmakers working today. He has an ear for dialogue. He has an eye for cinematography. He has dramatic vision. However, his latest film proves that Hollywood's wunderkind is still lacking something critical: the will to edit himself. Running for an often-sluggish three hours, Magnolia takes the inimate suffering of the human condition and paints it onto an oversized canvas. Sporting much of the poignant reflection of Anderson's debut Hard Eight, this unnecessarily lengthy epic should please the director's fans...Magnolia features many more scenes of inspired humor and unflinching realism. Sadly, these brilliant moments are too often lost in the film's narrative jumble. Had Anderson been able to snip some of his beloved footage, he could've made this near-miss into a masterpiece. - Tor Thorsen