Rating: 
Summary: Long?!?
Review: What a movie! What a magnificant masterpiece! No I'm not refering to 'Half Baked', I'm refering to none other than MAGNOLIA. This film became a sort of obsession of mine. I'll admit that upon first viewing I did not grasp the entire meaning. So I was a wee bit disapointed (either in the movie or in my apparent lack of intelect). So I saw it again. My heart sank, it was as if I'd seen it for the first time. So much emotion ran through me I couldn't contain myself, yet dispite all this emotion building up in me I still came out of the movie speechless. After that, insanity took it's toll. I proceeded to see the film another 6 times in theaters. Each time as fresh as the last. It is so refreshing to see a film willing to tackle human emotion especially in this era of mind numbing entertainment. P.T. knew that the length would scare a lot of people away, I belive that he did this on purpose. Anybody that considers viewing length before seeing a film is probably not the kind of person you want to see your film. If you've got other things to do, do them. So, in closing, I urge everyone to partake in 3 hours of astounding cinematics, excellent acting performances, and a refreshing screenplay. Magnolia is definantly the best thing to come out of hollywood in a long time. Ciao Dave
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic perfection!
Review: After seeing P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights back in 1997 it was clear to me that here was a director with an exceptional insight into the human condition. I was very excited to see Magnolia when it came out last year and not only was I not dissapointed - Magnolia instantly became my all-time favourite movie and set a new standard which I now compare all other movies to. It's deep and uncompromising look at relationships and life in general along with superb performances by the entire cast and Aimee Mann's haunting music makes it by far the most emotionally penetrating movie I have ever seen. One of the most unusual things about Magnolia is that is has about 8 central characters and it could be argued that each of the their stories are interesting enough to warrant their own movie. Having said that, Magnolia isn't so much a story-driven movie as it is an emotional journey. Those looking for a clear-cut plot will walk away dissapointed. This is the kind of movie you want to sit down and discuss with your friends when it's over. It's overall meaning and message is by no means clear... and that's one of the things I like most about it and also ultimately the thing that puts it in the category of art rather than entertainment. I have the utmost respect for P.T. Anderson for having the creativity, vision and courage to write this script and truly hope he keeps it up.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It, Even Tom Cruise
Review: Usually I can't stand Tom Cruise Movies. This one was great and my dislike of Tom Cruise didn't stand in the way of my total enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: An extra star for diversity of Opinion
Review: Magnolia was the worst movie i had seen in years - maybe the worst of all time. I can see how some people with a propensity to overanalyze this film would pull out something meaningful - but sitting thru 3 hours of stultifying dialogue, poor acting and self indulgent sweeping gestures that PT Andersen is making a habit of .. would bore the pants off anyone else.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary and refreshing piece of filmmaking.
Review: P. T. Anderson wrote and directed this superb film, that despite its more than three hours long, never loses pace, due to excellent performances of all the cast, the incredibly well-written screenplay, and the perfect direction of this young film-maker.
Rating: 
Summary: Knockout Performances, but Movie Overlong
Review: From the writer-director of "Boogie Nights", this 3 hour plus drama follows several different stories over the course of a weekend in Los Angeles. Most of the characters are fascinating, and ultimately there are maybe too many stories going on. The movie is in some ways a disappointment, but it's worth seeing for some individual scenes and knockout performances (Tom Cruise got an Oscar nomination and a lot of attention for his role, but the rest of the cast is just as good if not better, especially Julianne Moore, Jason Robards and William H. Macy). Finally, to watch this one you have to have a high tolerance for the "F" word.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been a masterpiece but it's just a long meatloaf!
Review: I had great expectations that this movie didn't meet at all! The stories are powerful and the cast is formidable. To its credit, the movie was able to capture me for its entire 3 hours lenght. The film starts with this long narration about bizarre coincidences that tie people together, inexplicably. For example, arrows are drawn on the screen to show how a guy jumps off a ten story building and gets shot through a window by his own mother which was pointing the gun at his father, gun that was kept unloaded until he (the son) thought of a brilliant way to rid himself of the litigious parents. The arrows accompany the now dead body in its fall that ends into a safety net installed by some windows cleaners days before. Such starting sequences set a very particular stage on which a great number of themes and stories unfold. All of the characters in the movie are related by either blood, working relationship, or friendship. However, none of their stories are intertwined like the beginning of the movie suggests they would be and, there is no gran finale to bring everything together, so all of the introductory part about coincidences becomes pointless and annoying in retrospect. The movie would have been much better if that whole part was edited out. The way in which the plot falls apart toward the end suggests that the writers and director had run out of creative juices and were looking for an easy way out, much like the spectator starts to feel the urge for a way out of the chair and into the closest restroom. Most themes are left hanging and never explored in any satisfactory detail. The parallel stories that should converge into a single unified end, as hinted from the start of the film, come to an abrupt finish and fall flat to the ground, like toads from the sky. I was left thinking: have I been watching three hours for this?
Rating: 
Summary: Worth It
Review: "Magnolia" looks and feels a lot like the movies "Grand Canyon" with Danny Glover and Kevin Kline and "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas as the laid-off engineer who flips out and goes on a rampage. All three of these movies are set in Los Angeles. "Magnolia" is a good movie, however I do have a few arguments about it. Intended or not, the writer/director of "Magnolia" portrays Anglo-Americans as being the only Americans who have serious morality issues to resolve. The life experience of Black-Americans living in Los Angeles in this movie is wholly dismissed. This is symbolized in the movie when the writer/director reduces the little black kid in "Magnolia" to singing an incoherent rap song as the only way the kid can communicate to the white LA policeman about a crime the little black kid may know about. Naturally, the white cop ignores the little kid. Later, the same policeman does not pay much attention to a suspicious looking guy in a brown jacket running through heavy rain in the kid's neighborhood. If the black kid in this movie has anything to say, it just is not as critical to the white experience of life being represented in this movie. Everyone should be aware by now that Hollywood has always relied on stereotypes to belittle the Black experience in America. Why else would the writer/director have the little black kid sing a rap song to the white cop in an obvious reference to the days of Black vaudeville? Also, two of the African-Americans in this movie, of which there are only three (in Los Angeles?), are portrayed as disturbed or insignificant characters whose only refuge from a harsh life in LA is crime. Witness the same little black kid later when he takes a load of cash from the Anglo woman's (Julianne Moore) purse after he finds her inside of her top-of-the-line Mercedes parked in the pouring rain unconscious from a drug overdose. The other African-American character portrayed is a poor and obese woman who has a dead body in her closet and the other a dispassionate African-American female newscaster who is interviewing the character played by Tom Cruise. Of course, when the main characters in this movie, who are upper-class whites, have some major frustrations to express, it's okay for them to contort their faces and blow a gasket, curse at family and strangers in public or private, or steal money from their employer (and still have a conscience), or preach misogyny (without a conscience) to angry white men, as three of the main characters in this movie will do. If anything is being said in this movie, it is that some people who reside in Southern California are amoral and tend to lead grossly immoral lives and wallow in their guilt. I just hope that the writer/director of "Magnolia" does not feel this way about all Americans. Finally, I have heard of frogs raining out of the sky, but not the five-pound bullfrogs shown in this movie. They are the small ones you find in little ponds of water after a hard rain.
Rating:
Summary: Mind blowing
Review: Magnolia has to be one of the best films of 1999. There's not a lot you can say without spoiling it. I recommend Magnolia to the majority of you out there, but I'll warn you that it is rather long and the first half is slightly hard to follow because there are several different stories going on at a time. Despite the length, however, it really did not feel that long. However, those of you who will find it rather slow and boring will see it as being about 6 hours rather than 3. If you like original and simply crazy movies, then I recommend Magnolia to you. Otherwise, I don't know. But watch it anyway, you may be surprised...wait...no...you WILL be surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Chew, digest, chew again
Review: This film deserves repeated viewings and serious long-term thought. What is important to some may not be to others, but director Paul Thomas Anderson obviously wanted to say something he felt was important and I believe he accomplished that goal. The characters in Magnolia might all be dysfunctional, but deep down, less than 1% of America is probably actually normal. These people want, need, laugh, love and hate like everyone else, but their stakes seem to be a bit higher on the day that Magnolia takes place. Anderson takes seemingly unrelated people and places (Robards dying day, the little boy forced to go on the game show) and weaves them together so that changes from plot to plot don't jar. There is a beautiful poetic sense here that I feel was overshadowed by last year's poetic champion, American Beauty. Beauty might be more fondly remembered now because it chose to focus on one family (imagine Magnolia with only Jason Robards' family) while Magnolia juggles several dysfunctions at once. The movie is long, yes, but from the first time I saw it until now, the first 2 hours seem like nothing. The last hour is when I begin to feel being in the theatre, but the ending always makes up for it and revives me. The singing and the frogs are often seen as unbelievable, but we are watching a movie after all. To me, the singing only serves to enhance my appreciation and affinity for these people, and while the frogs might be random and curious, it can simply be taken as a freak event that serves to bring people together. This film deserved far better accolades than it received. It is funny how Hollywood demands seriousness and self-importance, but fails to recognize something when it is serious and important (without the self).
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