Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like movies where numerous stories intersect.

What I Liked About This Movie

First and foremost Magnolia is a character driven movie. What I mean by that is the characters transformation is way more important to its purpose then the actual events that occur. With that being said, the acting in this movie had to be absolutely stellar for this movie to be even remotely entertaining. Thankfully Paul Thomas Anderson put together a great cast that delivered the goods in every single scene. I always like to pin point who was the strongest actor in good movies and while it was a hard choice I would have to say that Tom Cruise puts on the best show. Cruise plays a motivational speaker for men who are in desperate need of help with women. To sum up his character simply his motivational catch phrase is “Respect the Cock”.

Being a movie with intertwining stories the first time I sat down to watch it I expected over wrought dramatic sequences with hokey character connections. I was happy to find that even after multiple viewings the tightly planned connections between characters and emotion on display is perfect. It is not often I get moved by a movie but Magnolia is one of the select few that can dangle my emotions however it sees fit.

What Didn’t Work For Me

At a pivotal point in the movie there is a montage of the characters singing the same song. To me this moment felt out of place at a very important moment in the story. The only other thing that still never gels with me is the strange occurrence near the end. It is very symbolic but it takes some of the emotional resonance out of the movies finale.

Should You Watch This Movie?

If you find yourself interested within the first few minutes you will really enjoy this movie.

My Rating (Out of 13)