Magnolia is a really interesting movie. People are going to love it, and people are going to hate it. I loved it and hated it.
The Good Stuff:
The cast (and casting) is fantastic, with stellar performances across the board. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Jeremy Blackman (Stanley Spector, Boy Genius) and John C. Reilly (Jim Kurring, Dorky Cop), although there isn't a weak performance to be found in the movie.
The characters were all really enjoyable, albeit often slightly over the top, particularly "Frank T.J. Mackey" (Tom Cruise), "Phil" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and "Claudia Wilson" (Melora Walters).
The incidental nature of the separate plots is interesting and the individual plots are often compelling. The centralization of the plots around "Earl Partridge" (Jason Robards) works well, and I particularly liked the use of the opening sequences to explain the nature of coincidence and make the entire movie seem more plausible.
The Bad Stuff:
Many people are going to tell you this film is directed incredibly well, which, in my opinion, is only partially true. There are a great many interesting sequences and film techniques used, many of which often work quite well. However, I found the overall nature of the direction to often be so heavy-handed with the use of bizarre camera movement that I think it somewhat detracted from the emotional content of the film. Granted, it doesn't compare to the all-time offender in this respect, Oliver Stone's directorial farce in "Natural Born Killers".
There were a few sequences in the film that were so awkward and out of place that they seemed merely put in for bizarre effect. I refer particularly, of course, to the singing interlude with all the characters, and the rain of frogs. No one will ever convince me that these two ridiculous occurences enhanced this film.
This movie is really just too long. As interesting as it was, I started to lose interest after the singing sequence. This is a particular problem because the pacing of the film starts out so intense and then continously slows as the film progresses. This is an interesting (and pretty effective) device, but it hurts in a 3 1/2 hour movie.
I personally think some of the "Frank T.J. Mackey" character sequences and a lot of the interaction between "Claudia Wilson" and "Officer Jim Kurring" could have been removed to shorten this movie by about 45 minutes, and maintain interest throughout the film. And my god it would have been wonderful to remove that damn singing sequence.
My Conclusion:
Overall, "Magnolia" was a very interesting movie, but mostly just because it was filled with such wonderfully portrayed and wholely unique characters. I felt more like I was watching a set of virtuouso vignettes than an actual movie. While I thought the acting and casting were some of the best I've ever seen, in the end I didn't really like this movie as much as Paul Thomas Anderson's earlier (and really great) work on "Boogie Nights".
I gave it a solid 8. If you're easily put to sleep in a movie theater, skip it. And you may want to wait for videotape anyways, to give yourself some quite possibly needed pauses during a 3 1/2 hour long set of truly great audition reels.
The Good Stuff:
The cast (and casting) is fantastic, with stellar performances across the board. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Jeremy Blackman (Stanley Spector, Boy Genius) and John C. Reilly (Jim Kurring, Dorky Cop), although there isn't a weak performance to be found in the movie.
The characters were all really enjoyable, albeit often slightly over the top, particularly "Frank T.J. Mackey" (Tom Cruise), "Phil" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and "Claudia Wilson" (Melora Walters).
The incidental nature of the separate plots is interesting and the individual plots are often compelling. The centralization of the plots around "Earl Partridge" (Jason Robards) works well, and I particularly liked the use of the opening sequences to explain the nature of coincidence and make the entire movie seem more plausible.
The Bad Stuff:
Many people are going to tell you this film is directed incredibly well, which, in my opinion, is only partially true. There are a great many interesting sequences and film techniques used, many of which often work quite well. However, I found the overall nature of the direction to often be so heavy-handed with the use of bizarre camera movement that I think it somewhat detracted from the emotional content of the film. Granted, it doesn't compare to the all-time offender in this respect, Oliver Stone's directorial farce in "Natural Born Killers".
There were a few sequences in the film that were so awkward and out of place that they seemed merely put in for bizarre effect. I refer particularly, of course, to the singing interlude with all the characters, and the rain of frogs. No one will ever convince me that these two ridiculous occurences enhanced this film.
This movie is really just too long. As interesting as it was, I started to lose interest after the singing sequence. This is a particular problem because the pacing of the film starts out so intense and then continously slows as the film progresses. This is an interesting (and pretty effective) device, but it hurts in a 3 1/2 hour movie.
I personally think some of the "Frank T.J. Mackey" character sequences and a lot of the interaction between "Claudia Wilson" and "Officer Jim Kurring" could have been removed to shorten this movie by about 45 minutes, and maintain interest throughout the film. And my god it would have been wonderful to remove that damn singing sequence.
My Conclusion:
Overall, "Magnolia" was a very interesting movie, but mostly just because it was filled with such wonderfully portrayed and wholely unique characters. I felt more like I was watching a set of virtuouso vignettes than an actual movie. While I thought the acting and casting were some of the best I've ever seen, in the end I didn't really like this movie as much as Paul Thomas Anderson's earlier (and really great) work on "Boogie Nights".
I gave it a solid 8. If you're easily put to sleep in a movie theater, skip it. And you may want to wait for videotape anyways, to give yourself some quite possibly needed pauses during a 3 1/2 hour long set of truly great audition reels.