Review of Magnolia (1999) by Ethan P — 02 Feb 2017

Despite being over three hours long, Magnolia was over in what seemed like no time at all. It was equally funny and dark and sad and frantic, as many "mosaic" films try to be. But none have pulled it off in the same way PT Anderson was able to here.

I liked every main character-- Actually, I didn't like all of them, but I understood everyone's thoughts and motives enough to not get frustrated when one did something that upset another. And all of the performances were top notch.

I find with most PT Anderson movies I end up mostly watching for the portrayal of the main character. Not to say I don't like the stories in them, I've just really enjoyed the characters a lot (especially Barry, in Punch-Drunk Love).

They're always mesmerizing. But since there were so many main characters here, I was watching for all of them, as well as the story, and I just watched even more attentively when my favorite characters were on screen.

Magnolia is a movie with a premise that I think only PT Anderson is capable of perfecting. It seems to be polarizing for new fans of the director, but at the same time I think it's his best work.