Wow! I’m not really to sure how best to explain, describe or even give a view on this film. It certainly seems to have split opinion down the middle with as many people deriding its content as there are those praising it.
Yes it’s unusual and if you prefer films that reflect the drudge of our day-to-day existence to be less raw and decidedly neater, stick to American Beauty.
Nothing and everything in Magnolia makes sense
I have to admit that during the films' three hour stint I found my attention wandering off more than once, but ever since the credits rolled I’ve been able to think of little else.
The film focuses on 24 hours in the lives of a group of people living on Magnolia Boulevard. Somewhere along the line their lives intertwine and as they follow their personal destructive courses they unleash a storm of biblical proportions.
The theme running through the film, highlighted in the ‘well I’ll be blowed’ short stories at the film’s beginning, is that strange things do happen all the time and that we’re all linked by one fateful way or another.
All the actors are amazing but Julianne Moore’s depiction of the neurotic trophy wife and Tom Cruise’s performance as the broken misogynist Frank TJ Mackey really are outstanding.
An awesome film!
Film Trailer
Magnolia (18)