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Movies / On DVD / Magnolia
Magnolia

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Magnolia (1999)

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Reviews Counted: 134

Fresh: 113

Rotten:21

Average Rating: 7.6/10

Consensus: Critics say Magnolia is an ambitious, lengthy work that ultimately succeeds due to the interesting stories and excellent ensemble performances.

Runtime: 3 hrs 8 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In a single day in Los Angeles, a number of interconnected lives are changed forever. A lonely police officer (John C. Reilly) falls in love with a disturbed cocaine addict (Melora Walters). Her... In a single day in Los Angeles, a number of interconnected lives are changed forever. A lonely police officer (John C. Reilly) falls in love with a disturbed cocaine addict (Melora Walters). Her father (Philip Baker Hall), the host of the game show "What Do Kids Know?" has terminal cancer and tries to make amends for his past mistakes. A former champion of the show (William H. Macy) struggles to find love while the current champion (Jeremy Blackman) suffocates under the pressures of being a boy genius. An elderly man (Jason Robards) lies on his deathbed, tended by nurse Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), while his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) wrestles with grief and guilt, and his estranged son (Tom Cruise), an infomercial host, teaches workshops on how to trick women into having sex. Throughout all of this, past deeds are lamented and strange forces loom in the air. Director Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up to BOOGIE NIGHTS is an extravagant, emotional epic inspired by such films as Robert Altman's NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS, with a sprawling cast of characters searching for love and meaning in a chaotic world. The cast delivers uniformly excellent performances, most notably Tom Cruise's Oscar-nominated role as the sleazy Frank T.J. Mackey. [More]

Starring: John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Starring: John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, William H. Macy, Jeremy Blackman, Michael Bowen, Melinda Dillon, April Grace, Luis Guzmán, Alfred Molina, Michael Murphy, Felicity Huffman

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenwriter: Paul Thomas Anderson
Producer: Joanne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson
Composer: Jon Brion

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 29, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Magnolia

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Just as something so reliably surprising as the weather can modify people's behavior, "Magnolia" encompasses an inter-connective human bond that accepts reality's blind spots. Purity of intention, as the story suggests, is a happy accident that can hit ev

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/13/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

A wonderful mess.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/28/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Magnolia's finest achievement is the sheer ambition running through every vein.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
04/28/08
Channel 4 Film

Undeniably one of the most emotionally-draining films ever made...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
01/03/08
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

There's a lot of really neat, cool honestly imaginative stuff in Magnolia, but it's hardly the best movie I've seen in the past month.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
10/29/07
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Magnolia is a mess, but it's somehow encouraging: It takes a gifted director to make a movie this extravagantly foolish.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/27/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Easily one of the best of the year.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

What this film may have needed to get on its feet is some honest-to-goodness violence.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment 6 Comments
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the most enthralling and exhilarating American movies in ages.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out

A bold move for Anderson, an amazing display of acting for Tom Cruise, and one of the best films of 1999.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Chris Gore
Film Threat

All the work is top-notch.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Jeff Millar
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I think Flannery O'Connor's philosophy -- that a desensitized culture sometimes need exaggerated, loud storytelling to reawaken it -- is the operating principle here.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

Marks the arrival of a great, if not the greatest, modern director

Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections | comment Comment
10/24/04
Derek Smith
Cinematic Reflections

Anderson's movie has the audacity to expose the ugliness within a society that worships power and cherishes materialism.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
06/22/04
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

If it is emotional cinema you seek then this, my friends, is for you.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
01/09/04
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

If any film could be described as 'art for art's sake,' it would be Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia.

Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/03
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

It's a gambler's strategy -- double or nothing -- and Magnolia's gamble pays off.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/03/02
Leslie Dick
Sight and Sound

Ever since the credits rolled I’ve been able to think of little else.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Sarah Hall
ViewLondon
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Magnolia

February 07, 2007: Ben Stiller & Tom Cruise: The New Hardy Boys?
Will Tom Cruise resort to comedy in an effort to salvage his semi-damaged image? And if so, is Ben Stiller to be his partner in hilarity? More...

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Just a day after dropping their proposed "Watchmen" adaptation, Paramount Pictures announced that "Mission: Impossible 3" will go into production on July... More...

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