Rating: 
Summary: Weird, but good
Review: Magnolia is unlike any other movies ive seen ; both the way it is filmed and they way the plot develops. There are quite a few stories in the movie, which link together more or less at the very end. All of them are interesting and carry a somewhat similar theme of regretting the past. The movie drifts along slowly and focuses on some parts for far too long ( like Tom Cruise's Seduce and Destroy pep talk for men who want to get laid and aviod much relationship ) which makes the movie longer than it maybe should have been. Magnolia is an average movie until the 20 or 30 minute finally, which is completely bizarre and makes you sit back and think "What the ..."?. The narrator, who explains 3 mini irnonic stories very thuroughly before magnolia begins, never really tells you why or how it happened, kinda like the screenwriter couldnt think of any way to pull the stories together so he just puts this ridiculous event at the end. But this event is what makes the movie good, like it stops the stories for a few minutes then finally pulls them together. If you're confused, just watch the movie and see what I mean, its like nothing else you've seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time with this movie
Review: This movide is pure crap. It's vulgar, lacks plot and absolutely no talent is displayed by any one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Visionary Masterpiece
Review: This movie is birlliant.REAL! Anderson does a great job at telling stories, and this is a brilliantly told story. It's very complex, and very compelling. A must see for anybody!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: One word can describe this film, beautiful. This film is absolutely beautiful. It has THE perfect cast, brilliant writing, and is an intellectual challenge. This was one of the best edited films I've seen. It also had a hint of Kubrick flavor to it. The slow music playing in the background the entire time was wonderful. I found myself repeating over and over "I love this movie." P. T. Anderson crafted this jewel perfectly. This movie gets seven stars!
Rating:
Summary: Controversial, engrossing, spellbinding...and WONDERFUL.
Review: There have been many terrific reviews written by other Amazon members that go into great detail about why this film was fabulous or why it worked or didn't. So I won't waste time boiling down all of the stories going on in this film again."Magnolia" is a near masterpiece... The reasons it was a box office dud are too numerous to mention, but they run the gamut from its confusing title -- to the decision to keep superstar Tom Cruise's name in the background -- to the bad-worth-of-mouth recorded by rating services which survey people looking for conventional narratives and resolutions as they walk out of theaters. I see 50 to 60 films a year (and not for a living), and I avoided "Magnolia" out of fear. Fear of wasting time, more important than wasting money. And another concern was the film's controversial resolution, the critical element that determines the success or failure of most movies with a mass audience. Now that I've seen "Magnolia" on video and have finally been able to philosophically, intellectually and logically string together its elements, there is no doubt that this is one of the most wonderful accomplishments on film ever made. "Magnolia" takes you on a journey whereby a master story teller challenges you to hang onto a breathtaking ride of images, content and music, and find the thread that strings everything, including the last 20 minutes...together in a way that makes coherent sense. Yes, the point of the movie is that there are things that defy scientific logic. "Magnolia" tackles this premise and applies it to human behavior in a dazzling kaleidescope of aural, verbal and visual montages -- which make it IMPOSSIBLE -- to stop this film to come back to later. You're pulled into the tornado, wondering how's it going to end? This film is worth BUYING, especially with all of the extras on DVD. But it's also worth "previewing." I won't lie to you. A conventional audience might not like "Magnolia's" structure and its last 20 minutes. But the rest of it is hands down wonderful. I guarantee you will enjoy it. The acting, the story, the dialogue are consistently mesmerizing, from start to finish. I can't guarantee you will agree with the cosmic, unexplainable force that joins everything together in the end. Personally, I would have chosen something less comical -- and saying "frogs falling from the sky" doesn't spoil the point of the movie even though I would have preferred huge hailstones on a July afternoon in California. The controversial decision to visualize what for most of the movie is abstract -- is the root of why I think the film is misunderstood by some -- and hated by others. Yet I believe "Magnolia" is a fabulous film. Whether you like the film on the whole or not, I guarantee that you won't be bored, which is the curse of all lousy movies. Everything about "Magnolia" is mesmerizing. And if the resolution seems initially a bafflement, if you think about it some more, everything will make sense. You will find that things that seem visibly ridiculous or irrational are no more or less the same as the "unscientific randomness" of human behavior that is TOTALLY PLAUSIBLE. In sum, see this, rent this, buy this -- but don't dismiss or ignore "Magnolia" -- it's 99 7/8ths the work of a great young master.
Rating:
Summary: TOTALLY ENGAGING SLICE (SLAB) OF LIFE
Review: I loved every hour of this monster masterpiece. The plot defies description, so many diverse lives, so much desperation and beauty that the mind reels. Somehow it all comes to about as much resolution as any life does. Watch this work of art with an open mind and heart.
Rating:
Summary: if youre an idiot just rent double jeopardy and be quiet
Review: "people are helpless to fate, victims of time, and thier own emotions undo them." as john irving said and p.t. anderson energetically demonstrated on film, the intersection of peoples lives is often coincidence and tragedy. certainly one of 1999's best and most misunderstood films, magnolia is not for everyone. it is most certainly an arty film, and a dificult and sad one to watch, but is most worthwhile. if youre a big fan of double jeopardy, go rent some and save yourself, the myriad critical reviews of this film are all from people like you. if youre in no way intelligent and know this then avoid magnolia.if you "think tom cruise is cute but dont like when hes serious" dont get magnolia. if you "rent lots of movies and enjoy that delightful meg ryan" please dont think of buying this film.if you like film and have any attention span and mental fortitude please rent or buy this very good dvd. ooh and the extra stuff on the second disk is very good.
Rating:
Summary: pta is one of the finest
Review: This film was extremely well written. A reflection of life. Love is why we are here on earth to live and that is shown in Magnolia. Many films have all the characters tied in to one another interwoven and all that, but this film's characterization was keen-on. Respect children. So many feelings and life situations are in the stories in this film that have never been on film before. At the theatre I was moved,shaken,inspired,uplifted and emotional. Everyone else who saw it as well, after the credits couldn't move, couldn't put their coats on and walk out. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the finest filmmakers of all time, we will know this when the world ends and we can cast our vote. I do not want to ruin any of the story, the sky opened up in this film. Magnolia is absolutely amazing, excellent writing, character orginization, time, elements, color, weather, plot, story, resolution, cinematography. Every element of a fine film. WATCH IT!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting character movie-must buy
Review: Magnolia picks up for me where Boogie Nights left off. What I liked about this movie is the characters. They aren't your usuall hollywood cardboard cutout, boring, no depth people. They are frail and have weakness in them, and sometimes you have to look for reasons to like them, like in real life. Tom Cruise takes a good turn here, I think, better than most of his movies. His Frank TJ Mackey character strikes of a cartoon, but then think about the people you see everyday on informercials, don't they as well? It has some twists, and the ending makes no real sense, except to say that we as humans, do find ourselves in ironic and fascinating circumstances everyday. The DVD version is great for fans of the movie or supplement geeks. There is a Frank TJ Mackey infomercial that is hilarious, some deleted scenes (check for them on the color bar segment), and a nice Amy Mann video. I haven't listened to the commentary yet but have read on DVD sites that it is quality as well. All in all a great movie if you are looking for a thinking movie or something out of the ordinary. If not, Rambo will be out on DVD soon, so rejoice.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie of the Year
Review: I have just seen the VHS Version of this movie, and I can tell that with no doubth this is the best 1999 movie. P.T.Anderson continues surprising us with it's assebly of characters, music and dialogs. Difficult to start the movie, it is certainly not for every one dish, If you like real intelligent and well done cine, go and buy one.
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