| Magnolia (1999) |
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| CAST: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson MPAA RATING: R RUNNING TIME: 188 Minutes STUDIO: New Line Cinema |
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Paul Thomas Anderson's melodrama Magnolia is like a rollercoaster ride. They're bumpy. That is the case for a few people in California. We get a close look at some intriguing characters' lives that all take place and sometimes at the same time in one day. There's a cop (Reilly), a guilt-riden wife (Moore), a cocky sex-guru (Cruise), and more.
All of the events that we see revolve around cancer-stricken Jason Robards. If you had to pick one person who is the backbone of the movie, it's him. It's a hard choice, because this is such an overwhelming movie that it'll take at least 3 viewings to find out totally what it is trying to say. If you can't follow the plot, you will at least get to see a great cast that give excellent performances. The highlight of the movie is undoubtedly Tom Cruise. His overly confident, inspirational speaker is one of the best performances of 1999. Cruise dominates this movie every second he is on screen. Having a screen time of around 45 minutes, Cruise was originally supposed to have alot less. But thankfully P.T. Anderson added to the script to give Cruise more screen time. Cruise isn't just the biggest movie star today, he is also a great actor. The movie's length (over 3 hours) will make the average fan whine like a baby. It has some scenes that could have been cut, but with such a large number of characters to follow, the three hours are needed. Anderson keeps the pacing fast, cutting back and forth to everyone's problems, while weaving them to perfection. |
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