Rating: 
Summary: Powerful and amazing up until the ending
Review: Magnolia was a very good movie, with an emotional plot that dealt with unrequited love, addiction, feelings of failure, angst and forgiveness. All of its characters had serious issues they were trying their hardest to conceal or get rid of (Claudia,played by Melora Walters, had a serious cocaine addiction and was angry at her father, and Tom Cruise, an actor I can't stand, playing an intriguing role as a chauvinist sex god to hide his feelings of resentment towards his father when he took care of his cancer-ridden mother at the age of 14), and the movie seemed to be heading towards a relevatory ending, but it seriously backfired. Instead of self-discovery, it rained frogs, which killed the movie for me. Still, it was adequate enough to watch for 2/3 of this 3 hour movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant!!! A film you will never forget!!!
Review: At the begining you may find the plot a little confuse, but after some minutes you will watch a video that is really amazing.The film has really a brilliant argument and it is the kind of story you hardly ever see on TV. The characters, the soundtrack, every little moment is incredible. There is a so nice scene when all the characters, living in the same neighbourhood sing sequences of the song performed by Aimee. It is very emotional. All the characters are essential to build the plot. Although the rain of frogs could be a little strange, it can happens as it says the genious young character from a program between adults and kids. You have to watch it to rate it yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: PT Anderson's Masterpeice
Review: While I found this movie interesting, captivating and compelling, it was also very moving. The film begins with an introduction to the subject. Hypothesising events that cannot be held under a pure coincidence, and suggesting that some things are more than chance: they are destiny. The film introduces our protagonists and follows them through an extrordinary day. All the characters are in search of redemption, all the characters are convinced to find it by the end of the film. While I found the film to be at times melodramatic (screaming, crying, etc.), the film overall was powerfull and innovative.
Rating:
Summary: Theatrical Cinema At Its Best
Review: PT Anderson outdid himself with this one.
Magnolia is a multi-faceted, ensemble-based, many-themed, plurally-plotted piece of brilliantly theatrical cinema that follows the lives of many different people all on the same paths and experiencing the same feelings.
There are three things that really made this movie for me.
Plot: Anderson successfully juggles at least four major plotlines wihtout every appearing to tarry in one place for too long or forget about any one character for more time than is necessary. the plotlines for each character, as well, are all identical. Denoument, climax, falling action. these all occur in symphonic unison, which is further illustrated by brilliant editing, scoring, and a kind of titling of chapters.
Performance: Anderson provokes electric, powerful performances from the entire cast. Here, there are no weak links. Cruise is relevatory. Moore is tragically woeful. Reilly is quietly powerful. Macy is painfully familiar. And the lesser-seen characters are fully-developed.
Theme: the film spans roughly five different general themes, exploring regret, forgiveness, the limits of the human heart, hope, fear, and, most alarmingly presented, divine intervention. Oh yes. And, dare I say, the happy coincidences of life.
Over all, this is a stunning film. It is obvious that all aspects of the film were fully thought out. No line, no camera shot, no character exists without a solid, thematic, plot-driven purpose. And that, my friends, is true theatrical cinema.
Oh, also, some balk that that music is overwhelming. No kidding. That's the point.
Rating:
Summary: A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE!
Review: This movie is a movie that I will never in my life forget. It is touching, funny, surprising, involving, has great dialogue, amazing cast, fascinating characters with a character driven intertwining story all to meet at one hell of a climactic ending, sustainging its position as the most shocking, amazing, and truly brilliant endings to a movie I have ever seen.
Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius. He is my fasvourite director and this is my favourite movie.
Also see: BOOGIE NIGHTS (tied for fav. movie with Magnolia) PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (Proves PT Anderson gets a great performance from anyone) and SYDNEY (First film- you'll find it listed as "Hard Eight")
Can't wait till his next movie.
Buy the dvd it is amazing. Spend any amount on it, I promise any amount you pay is a good price.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, disappointing
Review: I had high hopes for Magnolia, especially after the intro, thinking it would be like Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" - seemingly parallel lives intertwining in unexpected, positive or even fleeting sorts of ways, but was disappointed. I didn't hire the movie for the similarities with Short Cuts though. I was hoping it would be a good drama, especially as I enjoyed "Boogie Nights", one of PT Anderson's previous offerings. It's a drama all right (!), but not a good one. It is boring, going on for three hours, and nothing happens quickly. (So drawn out it should have been French!) I normally like emotional dramas and it took me a while to figure out why I didn't like Magnolia. The main problem is that there is nobody really likeable in the story. They all have their demons or glaring character flaws, and hardly any redeeming qualities. OK, nobody's perfect - that's life - but you still need someone to root for, and most people aren't that despicable. The music within the film was another major turnoff. It is loud, often crowding out the dialogue, and hardly stops! Very distracting, and unnecessary (Magnolia wasn't meant to be a musical, was it?!). The scene where just about all the main characters sing along in different locations to the same song was stupid, and very embarrassing. The only plus was the acting of Tom Cruise, showing that he can tackle serious roles. The character he played was particularly loathsome, which made his part that much harder.
Rating:
Summary: "I am silently judging you..."
Review: Well, I suppose seeing that I'm writing an on-line review, I am publicly judging, but this was one of my all-time favorite lines in this movie. Though I have very mixed feelings about the movie as a whole, this line of Tom Cruise's during his interview was really a turning point in the movie for me. But, I supposed I should back up. I originally rented this film because it is one of my co-worker's all-time favorite films. She is definitely into the whole post-modern swing a little more than I am, but I thought I would give it a go. Up through the first half of the movie, I wondered why I had bothered. I found I was frustrated by the obscured shots of the actors (I had trouble recognizing the main characters) and annoyed by the unusual amount of swearing & hysteria. Perhaps Moore's character was wacko & high-strung, but I couldn't figure why characters like Cruise's assistants were swearing so much either. It seemed forced & unnecessary. I was thinking that "Chocolat" did a better job in emotionally engaging you with it's post-modern ideals while "Adaptation" did a much better job of screwing with your mind. At the moment when Cruise's character catches his interviewer in a big lie, I realized that some intelligence had surfaced in the film. Up 'till then, his flamboyant character as a male motivational speaker was just over-the-top. At that point, I finally became emotionally engaged in at least one character's plotline. I somehow was able to glimpse a depth behind the schtick - he now looked vulnerable & actually sincere deep down rather than just an empty hothead. However, Cruise pulled this off not by a move of weakness but rather by one of keen insight. You begin to realize there's alot going on under the surface with this guy. After that moment, I somewhat followed & enjoyed the various other emotional tones the movie was trying to bring out. The cokehead's desire for honesty because she was sick of trying to please people was somewhat touching. The cop's ability to stand up to rejection and to reach through the wall of the cokehead's defense was heartwarming. The lack of glamour as the movie dealt with death, affairs, abusive parents, abandonment, and rejection was also a breath of fresh air. The struggles were undesirable, all remained private and, for the most part, unresolved. Much like our lives. There is some hope that things might get better for some, but there are no sudden happy endings or vindications when the story becomes famous. A few other words for viewers...this plot may seem overdramatic, forced, poorly crafted, etc. to many. However, I think it might have a particular power for those who have had hard lives...I mean really hard lives. Kids who have been sexually molested & no one ever helped them. Or children whose parents abandoned them. Or kids who have had to take care of their parents while their parents died. Almost all of the storylines tie back to such childhoods...and it makes the point that you may want to escape your past, but your past isn't done with you. There are consequences for actions...and not only the offenders pay. Oftentimes kids are the victims, and they carry these things with them into adulthood. This may be a source of comfort for many carrying such baggage. And, finally, I would warn most against this if you have a problem with swearing or nudity. I usually don't mind swearing, but this one was over-the-top. I kinda wished I waited for a "made for T.V. version" but I somewhat doubted one would be made.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed Flower.....
Review: I had very high expectations for this film, based on PT Andersons previous work. I had just viewed the similarly fast-paced "Requiem for a Dream", and perhaps this excellent film set me up for dissapointment. Somehow this film slipped under my radar in 1999, so I did a little research. Most Box Office sites report this film cost $37 million to produce, yet yielded only $40 million in box office receipts. This is not a good sign to begin with, but I don't judge a film by box office numbers, look up the work of David Lynch. The main problem I had with PT's script is the ridiculous use of profanity, more specifically the use of the "F" word. Profanity has an important part in cinema, "Full Metal Jacket" is a perfect example. However, the use of profanity in this film is forced, unnatural, unbelievable, unnnecessary, and unnrealistic. When Julianne Moore goes to the family attorney and states the following hysterically, "I have f**ked other men, I have sucked their c**ks!", I could not help but think that PT was trying too hard to shock the audience. It was as though the harder I tried to care about the character and become drawn into the story, PT would write in a ridiculous line as previously mentioned. A lady of prominence and wealth such as the Moore character may have told her family attorney, "I have been unfaithful to my husband", that would have been much more believable. The Tom Cruise character was also over the top. Forget about the content of his "self-help" seminar, the interview with the television reporter was also a stretch. Cruise strips down to his bikini briefs in front of a television reporter WHO HE JUST MET, with TV cameras present. I don't think so. I understand PT is trying to show that Cruise's character is an animal both in front of the crowd and backstage, but he picked a ridiculous way to show it. ***Warning Spoiler*** Finally, the frogs. Tiny toads, maybe. Look it up on the net. But huge, long legged frogs, don't think so. Which is really sad. There are superstars of the cinema in this film, and the fast-paced cutting and drama build-up could have led to a great film. It turned out being a fair movie with some intense moments, but the freak of nature incident used to tie all of the characters together was ridiculous. Some other plot ploy would have made this movie much better. When the frogs began to fall I can see people getting up and leaving the theater. Some may have not waited that long, instead leaving when Cruise stripped down to his briefs.
Rating:
Summary: Maggots and Frogs
Review: Every character in this movie writhes like a maggot on a rotting piece of meat. They are soooo sad and lonely and depressed. Boo hoo hoo. Anderson pretends to squeeze the neurotic puss out from the wounds of scarred souls but most of it's just namby pamby babycry hysteria you find on talkshows. Worse, Anderson wraps it all up in some "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" schtick. A religious experience for frogbrains.
Rating:
Summary: Ponderous, pretentious
Review: Hmmm, a film about how the lives of a dozen characters living in Los Angeles interconnect with each other? Sounds similar to Robert Altman's "Short Cuts". But "Magnolia" stumbles around looking for a point. I was watching this film but I did not feel sympathy for most of the characters. This film features a lot of good actors but the problem is they all seem to be overacting! The only performances worth watching are from John C. Reilly who plays a good-hearted cop who is looking for love and Phillip Seymour Hoffman who plays a nurse taking care of a dying cancer patient (Jason Robards). But I was left feeling like I wanted to throttle the cancer patient's wife (played by Julianne Moore, who is one of the best actresses working today) who is just a whiny, pill-popping psycho. And the cancer patient's' estranged son features a performance by Tom Cruise where he seems to be crying out "Please give me my Oscar!" One of the most annoying things was that the soundtrack was obscuring the actual dialogue at times so it was hard to hear the actors. I was lauging out loud at one point when the characters started to sing along with one of the songs (a decent tune being sung by Aimee Mann). Another curiosity was the over use of tracking shots! Tracking shots can be effective but not if you use them in every other scene! I thought P.T. Anderson's earlier films "Hard Eight" and "Boogie nights were WAY better than this dreck. I will even give his latest film "Punch-Drunk Love" a viewing because he is a talented storyteller. But "Magnolia" will go down in my book as a pretentious, overly melodramatic mess of a movie.
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