Review of Magnolia (1999) by Chris H — 16 Jul 2011

Magnolia is a long, drawn out wail of a movie from acclaimed director P.T. Anderson, why the hell do I love it so much? With a stellar cast, you are taken on a three-hour, emotional workout that takes you to hell and leaves you there.

What's so great about Magnolia is that it's the poster boy for the drama genre while its only modestly about things that happen everyday in our apparently sad, sad world. Its hard to find a character not to relate with.

Tom Cruise's performance rips you to shreds as you observe an egotistical maniac evolve into a character you deeply feel sorry for and, in my case, weep for his past. Thank GOD there was an Oscar nod for Cruise, I still have a minute appreciation for the occult that is the Academy.

There are definite signs of the fact that Anderson had no idea what this movie was about when he wrote it. In fact, the last shot of the movie was the first clip Anderson filmed. Which is the only way this movie is related to the title. For you only care about the "Magnolia" when you know the end product, a beautiful blossom, first. It is then when you care about where the seed came from that birthed the flower, and how the stem rose from the earth to let you see the beauty of its creation.

Though not as a good as "TWBB", its clear that Paul Thomas Anderson cares deeply about this movie, its extremely hard not to care along with him.