Rating: 
Summary: Read a good book instead. Waste of time.
Review: Watched this video for 30 minutes and decided that was too much time invested. Loud, crude, senseless. Language was overdone. If you like PBS, A&E, BBC and uplifting, educating, or absorbing stories, this is a movie to avoid. The repetitive singing of One Is A Lonely Number throughout the beginning was over the top annoying. The chronic use of the f-word was numbing in its repetitiveness. Movies should improve, entertain or inform, Magnolia failed.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible, Indulgent Garbage
Review: An incredible waste of talent. A script that reads like the most self-indulgent piece of college writing class dreck ever. Tom Cruise involvement. A total lack of believable characters. Pretentious dribble. I have absolutely no idea why anyone liked this movie. Anyone associated with this 3 hour marathon of nonsense should be very ashamed.
Rating: 
Summary: A great movie, but not for everyone
Review: Magnolia is one of my favorite movies of all time...I can understand why some people would dislike Magnolia. It's very long, it has some very depressing parts, and it has a rather odd sense of humor to it. And the frog and "Wise Up" sing-along scenes are a little hard to swallow at first, although "Wise Up" is one of my personal favorite parts of the movie and I've come to love the frogs, too.Anyway, Magnolia is definitely worth renting in my opinion. You may end up hating it passionatly and thinking it's the worst piece of crap ever made, but on the other hand, you may discover an emotional, deeply moving, and beautiful movie. Either way, I doubt you'll think it's so-so.
Rating: 
Summary: Groundbreaking Ideas, but Poor Movie
Review: I usually like movies that are a break from the normal boy gets girl or hero saves the day types. Magnolia is definitely different, and the director's screenplay, ideas, etc. are groundbreaking, but what the movie really lacked was entertainment value. There were great parallels between characters, such as the former quiz show contestent (Macy) and his younger counterpart, the bible symbolism was interesting, although in my opinion rather pointless, and the whole idea of random occurances linking together was also very interesting. But that did not save me from looking at the clock every 5 minutes as I desperately waited for this movie to end so I could go to bed and forget that I ever rented this horrible film. The film's characters were miserable, depressing, ugly, and in my opinion very overacted. I don't think there was a scene when Julianne Moore's character wasn't crying and cursing profusely. The movie dragged and dragged, developing a series of sub-plots involving these miserable characters and their miserable lives. Yes, this was the director's point from an artistic standpoint, but it still made the movie unwatchable. The "shocking" climactic ending that I was anticipating would pull all of these subplots together was more ridiculous than ingenius. Great, the bible says something about frogs in a verse that was referenced throughout the movie, but come on. Raining frogs in California? Give me a break. Once again, I can respect the director's idea, to show how the random events in a series of lives intertwine, but overall I did not enjoy this movie the least bit. I give the director an A for effort and originality, but I give the movie a big thumbs down. Original, artistic crap is still crap. Enough said. -AA
Rating:
Summary: Painful
Review: The only thing as painfull as sitting through this three hour plus self indulgent nightmare, is enduring the "Magnolia diary". If you insist on torturing yourself by watching this movie, rent the video. The special "features" of the DVD are just another exercise in tedium.
Rating:
Summary: horrible pretentious drivel
Review: It felt like I was in hell for three hours watching this video. I like esoteric filmaking and was lured by the stellar cast and Roger Ebert's thumbs-up, but I have to tell you this was god-awful. There is talent here in the cast (Robards, Cruise, Macy, et al) and the cinematography is excellent but the 'story' and it's 'depth' are sick and stupid. Too much of the f-word also. It put me in a bad mood.
Rating:
Summary: A film about hope, redemption, love, loss, and frogs
Review: This is a wonderful film in the spirit of Robert Altman's Nashville and Short Cuts. This is Writer/Director PT Anderson's third film and the best yet. (He also wrote/directed Hard Eight (Sydney), and Boogie Nights). This movie centers around coincidence, redemption, and how "you can be through with the past, but the past is not through with you". It takes place in the San Fernando Valley and spans 24 hours in the lives of many people. Some of whom are paralleling each other. Like Quiz Kid Donny Smith who is a parallel to a young child who is now on quiz shows. Tom Cruise gives an exceptional performance as Trevor Mackey, a sex tape guru who was abondened by his father when his mother was dying of cancer. His father is now the one dying of this disease (The late great Jason Robards). He is married to Julianne Moore who married him for the money and now feels guilty about finally falling in love with the old man, just as he's dying. The nurse taking care of him Phil Parma is played by Phillip Seymour-Hoffman in another wonderful performance. The host of the quiz show Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker-Hall) is also dying of cancer. And did something to his daughter Claudia that has led her to a life of cocaine abuse and random sex. All of these characters undergo major changes over this period of time as we are led from a deathbed scene, to an interview gone bad, to a murder, through the lives of these pathetic but likeable characters. PT Anderson is the master of swirling camera's and has a visual style all his own. This film was the best film of 1999 and is my personal favorite film ever. It did not make the kind of money it should have but has been discovered on video obviously as it ranks #77 all time currently on the imdb top 250 list. The surprise ending seems insaine at first but makes complete sense when you think about it. Most people might not get the film because it is so original, a matter of fact after 2 of it's three hours were done in the movie theater some people were already walking out. But i say go see it, "thingIt's the [best] you ever saw".
Rating:
Summary: No Sense
Review: This movie is long and has some interesting parts, but after three hours you expect a great ending, well Don't!!
Rating:
Summary: In Running for Worst Movie of All Time
Review: I dont mind filmakers taking risks - I'll take an ambitious but flawed film over the typical Hollywood grist mill anyday BUT Magnolia has got to be the worst most incomprehensible film in recent memory. The pretentiousness, overacting and sheer wwfullness of this film sets a standard that is hard to follow. The same acting contingent which gave a professional and enjoyable performance in Boogie Nights is reduced to a shrill, gasping ensemble trying to make some sense out of...nothing. Trying to pass it off as some kind of arthouse piece is the final insult to the audience which has to sit through this 3 hour mess to begin with.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Film Ever Made.
Review: I'm not kidding. Nor was I surprised to see it given only a 4-star average. I've read over most of the reviews of this film, and the vast majority of them can be divided into two seperate categories: those who loved the film, and those who believed they didn't understand the film. I don't think a concept like "getting it" applies to Magnolia -- each person takes away something different from the film. I think a lot of people were expecting the usual pseudo-philosophical tripe that comes out of Hollywood, and were confused and dismayed to get something geniunely philosophical and geniunely heartfelt. Combined with outstanding acting -- particularly from Tom Cruise and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, snappy dialogue and wonderful directing, Magnolia is a film that speaks to your heart. You need only listen. ~DH
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