Review of Magnolia (1999) by Trailesque — 05 Aug 2022

This is one of these intersecting lives stories, with a bunch of LA characters struggling with various woes and heartaches. The main theme seems to be the pains and anxieties that lie behind the smiling successes of show business.

The narrative focuses mostly on one TV program, a quiz show in which kids become heroes by besting adults. The characters include a washed up star of this show, the current star of the show, a kid who suffers the horrible humiliation of pissing in his pants on national television, the current host of the show and his cocaine addict daughter, a Hollywood bigshot who is dying of cancer, his messed-up wife, the hospice nurse who is caring for him, his estranged son, a macho inspirational speaker (Tom Cruise, putting on a great show), and a lonely, well-intentioned cop.

It definitely is not flawless. The dialogue is often lame and consists of people getting very emotional and cursing non-stop. Julianne Moore's talents are wasted in a pathetic role. The film could be accused of trying too hard to pluck on one's heart strings.

But it is hard for me to dislike a movie that held my attention for 3 hours and then ends with thousands of frogs falling from the sky and causing all kinds of havoc. Oh, and it is very well put-together, with fine acting and editing.

It is pretty amazing that writer-director Anderson was only 28 when he made this.