Rating: 
Summary: we may be through with the past
Review: As others mentioned -- this movie is amazing. I think the fact that people react strongly to it (either positively or negatively) speaks for it. It takes some risks ... it's not like every other movie ...
Such people with such faults -- the faults of people who try their whole lives to get it right --some of them very mistaken about what they are to do the whole time. the worst of them and the best of them. And hopefully most of them learn throughout this single day that:
--- we may be through with the past
but the past isn't through with us --
the message that you don't move on until you come to terms with your past and what you've done. Call it karma, or whatever else you want to call it ... it is a powerful message
In the end, as Officer Jim Kurring tells us in his voice over narration "Sometimes people need a little help. Sometimes people need to be forgiven...." In the last scene, Jim Kurring's narration takes us to Claudia, and she has a long, vacant look into the camera. And then, she smiles. So simple, so bright. I had not seen her smile once during the entire film. It is a powerful film. And it is worth three hours to see that smile and know what it means.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best dramas, ever.
Review: Magnolia is simply one of the best dramas ever made. Magnolia is that good, because it is however you interpret it. There are hundreds of ways to interpret this movie. Most people don't like this movie, since they become frustrated trying to figure it out. My take on this movie is that all of the people were not good, so god sent out signs in numbers to them, trying to get them to collect themselves and carry on. These signs were the numbers 8 and 2, which appear many times in the movie. These signs show that Exodus 8:2 is coming, but the people are too ignorant to realize this. Also, if you look closely on the cover, you will see millions of frogs in the center of the magnolia flower, showing that all the stories (petals) linked up through it. See this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Wow...This Movie is Incredible
Review: A good friend of mine reccomended this movie to me, telling me it was good. He didn't mention it would change my entire scope on life. Granted, this movie is not for everybody. Being nearly 3 1/2 hours long, it takes some patience and an open mind to really grasp the scope of the film. However, if you are on the same wavelength as the director, your jaw will be on the floor. The same goes for "Unbreakable", which I thought was a genius film. Basically, this film is like a magnolia. It has many petals, which seem to almost exist independently, but all revolve around the base. All of the stories and characters in this film are different from each other in many ways, but the film accentuates the fact that we all have flaws, and we all have made poor decisions in our lives. It also focuses on the human tendency to hold on to these decisions, which result in regret and bitterness. All of the charcters are very believable in the sense that their personality traits are very common, however beautiful or ugly they may be. I agree with another reviewer, Narniak, who talks about people getting bored of the characters. The only reason people get bored is because they don't identify with the charcters' personalities. Take Tom Cruise's character, for example. He is basically a sex televangelist who believes in complete social and sexual domination over women, and will stop at nothing to make his followers to feel the same. I personally HATE his idea, but it is the fact that he is a human being, and that nobody is perfect, that makes it believable.
The acting in this film is unbelievable. Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, John C. Reilly, and William H. Macy represent some of the best casting in film history. The best scene in the movie, by far, is the "universal singing" scene. My jaw fell through the floor just feeling the raw emotion displayed throughout that song. That's one of the few scenes in a movie that has ever made my eyes fill with tears. It wasn't sad, but it was just so powerful. Then, of course, there's the "raining frogs" scene. I'm not going to spoil it for you. So, in closing, if you like films that make you think, or in this case, proud to be alive and breathing, then Magnolia may be right up your alley. This film is a true piece of art. This film is a true masterpiece. This film is Magnolia. I hope the director, P.T. Anderson reads this some way or another. I hope he knows that he has made one of the greatest films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: It's Not Going to Stop, Until You Wise Up.
Review: The pain and suffering of one human being is the pain and suffering of all human beings. We are all part of something greater than any one of us. .... We all need to empathize with Jesus' point of view, whether we worship him or not. If you have not seen this movie, and you really care about life, then for the love of God, you need to watch it. Magnolia is a masterpiece unlike any movie that has ever been made. I've read a lot of extremely negative reviews about this movie. They do not surprise me. People are saying things like, "There isn't ONE redeeming character in this entire movie." and "The director just threw in the STUPID and MEANINGLESS ending because he didn't know how to tie-up all his loose ends." I don't consider myself a very intelligent person, or even a particularly religious person, but this movie gave many clues of what ending was coming. Try following the storyline of the Stanley. No redeeming characters? What about Stanley? Look carefully at the passages he was reading from in the library. Better yet, scan the audience closely during the quiz-show scenes. That ending was coming. And what about Jim the cop, played by one of the greatest actors alive today, John C. Reilly? He was about as decent and moral of a person as I have EVER seen portrayed on film. The scenes with he and Melora Walters' character Claudia were absolutely riveting. Magnolia is a montage of characters that are struggling with the meaning of their lives, just like we all do. All of the characters are flawed in one way or another, just like we all are. Some are vile, hopeless, pathetic, and even disturbing. It is sometimes hard to watch their pain, their mistakes, and their irrational actions. It is sometimes hard to listen to their constant cursing, their insults, and their irrational statements. Are they sometimes boring? Yes. But couldn't that boredom stem from that fact that no one person can relate to every character in the movie? Do you relate to everyone that you interact with during any given day? Probably not. Maybe that is why the director has included so many different characters in the movie, and why the movie is so lengthy. I think Anderson has tried to display as wide a range of human characteristics as he possibly could, both good AND bad. There is no doubt that this movie takes a tremendous amount of effort and patience to comprehend. Sole entertainment value was certainly not the intention of the film. I guess maybe that is why so many people react negatively, especially if they only experience Magnolia once. We all just want to be entertained these days, mindlessly staring at our TVs. We care not to be bothered with questioning our existence. Who can blame us? Those questions are painful, and they will never REALLY be answered until we die. This movie proposes many tough questions, such as "What can we forgive?" and "Should you regret your past?" and "Do things happen for a reason?" Simply stated, this film seeks the TRUTH. It is the search for TRUTH that matters in life. And what about that stupid and meaningless ending? It saved the life of at least one character in the movie directly, and it changed the life of many other characters for the better. It is really NOT an ending, but rather a BEGINNING. It represents a return to faith, a return to the Lord. When you figure out where the hell this "ending" came from, then maybe you will stop using the word hell so much. As this miracle unfolds, Stanley reassures us, "This happens, this is something that happens". It seems that a lot of Magnolia's audience didn't pay enough attention to Stanley, just like his father failed to do. I believe miracles like this can happen, because I have faith in something far greater than myself. Do you?
Rating: 
Summary: 3 hours of my life that I will NEVER get back
Review: Look folks, I enjoyed "Boogie Nights". Slightly long, but overall a pretty solid, interesting story. I had about average hopes for "Magnolia", imagine my suprise when I found even those were to high! There were a lot of great stories here that suffered from the format. If they had cut the character count down even say 25%, this movie would have been a 4 or 5 star movie in my book. Yes, I know, dysfuctional life movies are being done left and right, but there was some really solid stuff here. It just sadly was slaughtered by the constant changing of storylines. As soon as I found myself getting really into someone's story, *SNAP* "Time to change lines!" *grumble* Watch it on cable folks, don't buy it, don't rent it, just watch it if you have nothing else to do for 3 hours. Oh, and prepare to be actually angry with the film at the end.
Rating:
Summary: It's never going to stop, until you wise up.
Review: The pain and suffering of one human being is the pain and suffering of all human beings. We are all the same. We are all part of something greater than any one of us. This fact is something that will be important for humans to remember in the wake of the recent tragedies in the USA, and the impending war around the world. We all need to empathize with Jesus' point of view, whether we worship him or not. If you have not seen this movie, and you really care about life, for the love of God, you need to watch it. Magnolia is a masterpiece unlike any movie that has ever been made. I've read a lot of extremely negative reviews about this movie. They are truly baffling. People are saying things like, "There isn't ONE redeeming character in this entire movie." and "The director just threw in that STUPID and MEANINGLESS ending because he didn't know how to tie-up all his loose ends." Did these people watch the same movie that I did? I don't consider myself a very intelligent person, or even a particularly religious person, but this movie gave many clues of what ending was coming. You have to follow the storyline of the Christ figure of the movie, Stanley. Yes, Stanley is a Christ figure. No redeeming characters? What about Stanley? Look carefully at the passages he was reading from in the library. Scan the studio audience closely during the quiz-show scenes. That ending was coming. And what about Jim the cop, played by one of the greatest actors of our generation, John C. Reilly? He was about as human and moral of a person as I have EVER seen portrayed on film. The scenes with he and Melora Walters' character Claudia were absolutely riveting. My jaw dropped more than once. This entire movie is a montage of characters that are struggling with the meaning of their lives, just like we all do. All of the characters are flawed in one way or another, just like we all are. Some are vile, hopeless, and some even seem Godless. It is sometimes hard to watch their pain, their mistakes, and their irrational actions. It is sometimes hard to listen to their constant cursing, their insults, and their irrational statements. Are they sometimes boring? Yes. But couldn't that boredom stem from that fact that no one person can relate to every character in the movie? Do you relate to everyone that you interact with during any given day? Probably not. Maybe that is why Anderson has included so many different characters in the movie, and why the movie is so lengthy. I think he has tried to display as wide a range of human characteristics as possible. This movie takes a tremendous amount of effort and patience to watch, qualities that far too few people display with enough consistency these days. Back to the ending. It saved the life of at least one character in the movie directly, and it changed the life of many other characters for the better. It is really NOT an ending, but rather a BEGINNING. It represents a return to faith, a return to the Lord. When you figure out where the hell this 'ending' came from, then maybe you will stop using the word hell so much. As this miracle unfolds, Stanley reassures us, 'This happens, this is something that happens". It seems that a lot of Magnolia's audience didn't pay nearly enough attention to Stanley. I believe miracles can happen, because I have faith in something far greater than myself. Do you?
Rating:
Summary: how many petals does magnolia have?
Review: magnolia is simply and quite frankly mind-boggling. this would therefore imply confusing, which it is, but so is memento, lost highway, and many others which i wont list them all. does confusion therefore imply ingenuity? no i think not, but when confusion gives way to such a complete understanding - that is when ingenuity reveals itself.
the beginning and ending of this film (both very prolific and involving)are pulled off nicely. the infamous "raining frogs scene" is simply fantastic and one of the best scenes.
the universal singing at the end of the film is not really as absurd as it sounds. what those "singing" scenes do is relate all these characters (petals if you will) to the main flower, the magnolia. all these characters share the same plight, and that is simply the plight of opposition - we all share throughout our lives. and the singing is not over-the-top it is done well, just like one would sing their favorite song from the top 10 to themself.
this film has attributes most others don't, and that is overall clarity (which most films prefer to blur), is moving (which most films prefer to implement with only a death), and a passion to reveal to the audience that a film doesnt have to be about supernatural or otherworldly things to catch an interest, all a film has to do is be honest.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: This was one of the worst movies I have EVER seen in my life. The movie was so stupid that I began laughing at the stupidity. Right around the scene where all the characters are singing together is where I came the very close to pushing the "stop" button on my remote control. After that I had given up all hope for this being a good movie. That's disappointing too because the beginning of the movie is so good. The stories they show in the very beginning are interesting. The stories they show during the movie are not only confusing but boring. And not one story has a satisfying ending. The little boy genius story was the most interesting but it went absolutely nowhere. Tom Cruise was the worst. He did a great job acting but his character was so disgusting that I felt embarrassed just to be watching it. Each story can be connected but to do so is stretching it...A LOT! I love how it rains frogs and nobody seems to think anything of it. At that point you can tell that the director has given up on this and he just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. I would also like to give 1 star to the song at the beginning of the movie, "One Is The Loneliest Number." I thought that song would never end. I was hoping for a power outage at my house just to shut that girl up!
Rating:
Summary: Transcends reality if your mind goes that far...
Review: Rarely does a film capture what is important about existence. This one does. Life is not "real" in the sense we like to pretend it is. But when you tell truth on this level it's going to lose most people. The superficial aspects of Magnolia will entertain the masses, but like the Tao they will laugh at it. That doesn't matter. This film is like a message from a higher dimension sent to reassure us that there are spiritual forces at work whether we know it or not, whether we understand them or not. If you need inspiration about the process of redemption, here it is. I bought a copy for a good friend. The Aimee Mann sound track was my next purchase!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably banal, boring, pretentious and
Review: It was with a shudder of apprehension that I picked up this movie after noticing that it was the same director who did "Boogie Nights". But my research revealed mostly positive ratings by reviewers. So I decided to spend the three hours and see what all the fuss was about. "Boogie" was interesting and effective in some ways, but way overlong and downright obtuse in making its sociological points. This movie has none of "Boogie's" good points and all of its bad points, plus some others. How about a hackneyed theme--could you select one "better" than dysfunctional families? Lack of communication? Manipulation in relationships, whether parent-child or lover to lover? These tired themes are handled so badly in dialogue and character portrayal that I found myself shaking my head in disbelief. And what about feeling and passion in a film that would seem to be all about intensity? Even with stellar actors, you won't find it here. The roles played by Robards, Cruise and others are caricatures. The dialogue is lame almost beyond belief. If you need to be reminded that parents, friends, and lovers should be more caring, kind, communicative, and attentive, I would suggest that almost any self-help book, Ann Landers column, or Hallmark card would be better than this heavy-handed
and overwrought movie. If you want a positive look at some of the same types of problems, with fine performances and useful insights, try Lawrence Kasdan's "Mumford" or "Grand Canyon". The closest this movie comes to a coherent message is when, after almost three hours, a young boy complains to his manipulative father, "You need to be nicer to me". This director needs to be nicer to his audiences, and some editor or artistic advisor needs to rein him in, suggest that sublety and sensitivity are a better mix than smarminess and special effects.
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