Rating: 
Summary: Decidedly disappointing
Review: I adored Boogie Nights and thought the cast and director could only top it. Unfortunately this was not the case. It was too long and bloated. Some of the scenes and characters were very engaging but the interlinked stories did not add up to anything desperately interesting and the build up did not lead to a decent climax. You cannot beat 2 DVD disc special additions for learning about a film inside and out. The second disk seemed to reveal a pretty amateur produtcion effort. I wish it was better but it wasn't. Take a look at something else.
Rating: 
Summary: I'VE BEEN PELTED BY FROG GUTS
Review: There seems to be no neutral on this movie. After hearing people I respect rave about it, I gave it a try. I found it to be long and boring, but mostly petentious. Granted, Magnolia has some fine music, some fine performances and a couple cute twists - or maybe they just seemed cute in the blizzard of mind numbing "over the top" scenes. The one positive is that if you see it on DVD with a hardened guide, the movie can be condensed into 10 minutes. Then you can watch the documentary stuff, which shows you the criminal waste of film in progress.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst movies I've ever seen...
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson goes way beyond his limits with this convoluted, rip-off of other ensemble pieces. I credit the story as a shadowy reflection of Altman's Short Cuts. As a huge fan of Hard Eight and Boogie Nights, I couldn't believe such a talented directed wrote and directed such a piece of trash. I didn't even think it was the same director. Each of the characters is equally worthless, and when redemption is found we wonder -- who really cares? None of the characters are interesting or even sympathetic. The story starts out promising; we learn that chance and happenstance seem to occur everyday to mold our lives, but then the movie asks us, "Is such really the case?" As far as I can tell -- there doesn't seem to be any determination by PTA to answer that question. If the message is: People are horrible and use a lot foul language -- then I guess there can be an argument made. PTA seems to have done a 180 degree turn from the edgy and provocative storytelling that earned him his name. Two hours of this movie could have ended up on the cutting-room floor, and no difference would have been made as far as I can tell. It's simply 3 hours of self-absorbed trash...
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo-intellectual junk
Review: Well, that was three hours of my life that I'll never get back. If just one person can explain to me the meaning of the frogs, I'd appreciate it. Cast tries hard and gives some good performances (Cruise is great, I admit, but I've seen much better from everyone else), but the film is just one loooooooong buildup to. . . nothing at all. Skip it. Save your money. I wish I had.
Rating:
Summary: What was the Point?
Review: I consider myself open minded, well read, and not afraid of movies and books out of the main stream. But Magnolia was one movie that left me wondering..."what was that?" The movie began with "urban legend" anecdotes to show how life defies the odds and even the impossible can happen. Is it fate? Or is it just the way life is? This is a movie of characters facing great challenges in their life and how each individual challenge is linked together. The acting is terrific, the use of music superb, and the view of life as a depressing weather forecast is clever. But the "patchwork" unravels and the personal lives of the characters aren't tied together as strong as they could be. This is not a film with an occasional downpour of emotion. It's Noah's deluge! And in the end when we look for the sun breaking through the clouds and a dove returning with a flowering twig, the rain continues to fall. Life continues and I guess we need to wait for the sequel to see what happens.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written and made...great actors play
Review: This movie should make you think of what you live your life for. I expect many people (especially americans) dislike this movie...Well, grow up guys.
Rating:
Summary: A thought provoking masterpiece!
Review: Okay movie watchers, if you thrive on shallow action movies, this is not for you. This movie requires thought, time, and open-mindedness. As with many classic works, there are contradictions which lie within the work. You must think of the reasons for the contradictions. You must think of questions and answers that the movie arouses. This is the most thought provoking movie I have ever seen. The movie is 3 hours long, and I have watched it about 20 times in the last 6 months. Each time you watch it, questions that you had previously are realized. This movie is a new classic because classics do not get tiresome. One can watch it over and over and never get sick of it. If you don't like to think and just like eye-candy in movies, then don't even bother watching it. Yet if you like to think about rhetoric and such, then this is the best movie ever made. The acting is superb, the script is emotional and intensely intersesting (Especially the part of Frank T.J. Mackey). This is, without a doubt, the best movie ever made if you have intelligence and enjoy using it.
Rating:
Summary: operatic and biblical....and beyond description
Review: Amongst my circle of friends, artists and educators, the film Magnolia has been highly praised. People are very good about not revealing much about it, as it is an indescribable piece of work. I responded to this film unlike I have responded to anything in a long time.............From reading the reviews before me, I can certainly see that this is a work that begs for opinion. For that alone I think it is a masterwork. This is not an easy journey, even in conventional terms. It deals with parenting(mostly fathers ....we take a beating), cancer, the foibles of humanity...tthe pain of fame, and the chance responsibility of being human. ...............and if that wasn't enough, the film is in no way conventional. In the DVD documentary(which could actually use a little editing) Director PT Anderson says he is not telling 6 stories but one story, and there is a seamless approach to the work. Anderson jumps around his world, makes up rules, breaks them. He puts the unconventionality in your faCE, and lets you know that your life watching this film is going to go on the same ride that the characters go on.............The conventional concepts of the movie, the acting for instance, are first rate. I think Cruise is excellent. John Reilly is fabulous as well. Well, let's face it, this is a wonder cast.........One possible drawback There is one great moment in the documentary where Phillip Baker Hall is lamenting the use of the "f-word" so much, and that certainly is a quandry. Is the language character based...it seems like in the world of Anderson the language of the characters is based in the swearers and the vehemently opposed to swearing. So what is the ultimate word on Magnolia? I think this is one of the most original, challenging pieces I have ever seen. You will be faced with theatrical moments of opera in biblical proportions. You will love it, or hate it. But you won't stop thinking about it. PS. So you know where I stand....I love the Wise Up section.
Rating:
Summary: Hunh? What the hell was that about?
Review: My roomate and I set down to watch this movie, and we were jazzed after the first few minutes showing little sequences of coincidence. I thought this was going to be great. A few story lines that all tie into one big ending. Oh I was pumped. Three hours later... a waste of my freaking time. Imagine someone taking an episode of Family Ties (one of the "Very Special Episodes",) a bad Trapper John M.D. episode and a cable access program, splicing them all together so as they jump around and none of them have an ending that relates to anything else, and you have just made the sequel to Magnolia. Save your money, buy a can of paint, pour it onto your floor, watch it dry then clean it up. That is much less a waste of time than watching this flick. Almost as bad as English Patient (that is saying a lot.)
Rating:
Summary: Yikes!
Review: This movie really insults the intelligence. I guess PT Andersen doesnt really think you can get his art so he hits you over the head relentlessly - Oh the emotion! You know this is a deep movie because people are screaming and cursing all over the place. The emotional high point is the group sing along (Aimee Mann shouldnt take any blame for this) - where you start laughing and you realize that it wasnt supposed to be funny. And a 2 Disc DVD release....Ah..the pretentiousness!
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