Sure - if you watch this film with a clinical, hey-that-doesn't-make-sense eye 'Magnolia' will disappoint. However, I don't think that this film is intended to be taken literally - so DON'T! Let this movie engage you on an emotional level and you WILL be satisfied.
'Magnolia' is a modern-day parable of how we hide from love and pain and the regret we experience when we do.
The cast is uniformly wonderful, with the gorgeous Tom Cruise leading the way with an over-the-top performance as a 'get-some guru' of astounding sleaze and repulsiveness. In the end, however, there is cause for hope that he might end his misogynistic ways.
Julianne Moore plays a mentally unstable, prescription-drug junkie who discovers her better nature almost too late. She eats the screen up with anger and frustration, while her huge green eyes shadow bottomless anguish.
A fairly unknown young actress, Melora Walters, is convincing in her high-profile role as an (*SPOILER!) incest victim and cocaine addict who latches onto an innocent and too-well-meaning cop (the ever-excellent John C. Reilly.)
Melinda Dillon (the classic 80s film "The Christmas Story") has a small but welcome role as the wife of a spiritually bankrupt TV game-show host (Philip Baker Hall) facing his ugly past for the first time and an imminent death from cancer.
Although I'm one of William H. Macy's biggest fans, this is not one of his best parts. He plays a former whiz kid who didn't live up to his youthful promise and is now a pee-on at an appliance store. Although Mr. Macy does not have the other-worldly good looks of Mr. Cruise - I do wish he would stop taking roles that have him playing pathetic losers ('Fargo', 'The Cooler', 'Panic'.) Mr. Macy's acting talents are such that he could easily play a strong, attractive character once in a while - and his agent ought to know that.
The soundtrack to 'Magnolia' is an eclectic mixture of traditional music and past/present pop that ratchets up the tension and emotion. Warning: get your hankies out!
The film has some magical gimmicks that serve it well: characters singing along with the soundtrack and (*SPOILER) a bizarre deluge of bullfrogs that serves as the climax for the story.
I believe you will thoroughly enjoy 'Magnolia' if you sit down and prepare for a journey through the darkness of the human heart.
'Magnolia' is a modern-day parable of how we hide from love and pain and the regret we experience when we do.
The cast is uniformly wonderful, with the gorgeous Tom Cruise leading the way with an over-the-top performance as a 'get-some guru' of astounding sleaze and repulsiveness. In the end, however, there is cause for hope that he might end his misogynistic ways.
Julianne Moore plays a mentally unstable, prescription-drug junkie who discovers her better nature almost too late. She eats the screen up with anger and frustration, while her huge green eyes shadow bottomless anguish.
A fairly unknown young actress, Melora Walters, is convincing in her high-profile role as an (*SPOILER!) incest victim and cocaine addict who latches onto an innocent and too-well-meaning cop (the ever-excellent John C. Reilly.)
Melinda Dillon (the classic 80s film "The Christmas Story") has a small but welcome role as the wife of a spiritually bankrupt TV game-show host (Philip Baker Hall) facing his ugly past for the first time and an imminent death from cancer.
Although I'm one of William H. Macy's biggest fans, this is not one of his best parts. He plays a former whiz kid who didn't live up to his youthful promise and is now a pee-on at an appliance store. Although Mr. Macy does not have the other-worldly good looks of Mr. Cruise - I do wish he would stop taking roles that have him playing pathetic losers ('Fargo', 'The Cooler', 'Panic'.) Mr. Macy's acting talents are such that he could easily play a strong, attractive character once in a while - and his agent ought to know that.
The soundtrack to 'Magnolia' is an eclectic mixture of traditional music and past/present pop that ratchets up the tension and emotion. Warning: get your hankies out!
The film has some magical gimmicks that serve it well: characters singing along with the soundtrack and (*SPOILER) a bizarre deluge of bullfrogs that serves as the climax for the story.
I believe you will thoroughly enjoy 'Magnolia' if you sit down and prepare for a journey through the darkness of the human heart.