Well, I suppose I could turn this blog into a tl:dr essay on the movie's themes of loneliness, broken families and interwoven lives, but let's face it-I'll end up trying to sound too intelligent and you'll be left with a cliched mess of Composition 111 trash. Instead, I'll just talk about the aspects of the movie I enjoyed and did not enjoy. Before I do that, I suppose it would probably be nice to include some brief background information on the movie.
Magnolia is a film released in 1999 filled with such stars as Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, John C.Reilly, Alfred Molina, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and William H. Macy. So clearly, we've got some talented actors in the thing. The movie tells the tale of an assortment of characters whose lives become interwoven. I could go and outline every plot point in the movie, but that wouldn't be much fun for you if you ever want to see it. The film (you know I'm a movie snob if I'm calling it a film) is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who also directed Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, a movie I have yet to watch because no one ever wants to watch it with me and I'll be damned if I have to watch a 3 hour movie by myself.
Going into the movie, I was a tad skeptical. The whole "OMG THIS MOVIE WILL BLOW YOUR MIND ALL THESE CHARACTERS/EVENTS ARE SOMEHOW TIED TOGETHER" thing is getting a little tired to me after having to sit through things like Lost (which thank the Lord I gave up on after three seasons) and while I usually enjoy movies that have that gimmick (I really enjoy stuff like Sin City and Pulp Fiction), I hate when it's done poorly. However, while watching the movie I realized that this was not it's main focus. The characters do all somehow tie together, but not at the cost of development or set up. All the actors give excellent performances, and you can really tell that they believe in the script. Tom Cruise as a misogynistic self-help guru was particularly memborable, as well as John C. Reilly as an awkward but endearing police officer. Of course, you could say I am a little biased towards John C. Reilly due to my regular diet of viewing stuff like this:
Also, John C. Reilly is from the neighborhood I grew up in Chicago, so I have to love him.
There are times where I felt the movie dragged a little while watching it- the film clocks in at about 3 hours-but after the movie was finished, I was able to think back on the movie as a whole and really appreciate it. However, I will still hold that some scenes drag, like this one where Jason Robard's character talks to Phillip Seymour Hoffman about living life and regrets and all that jazz FOREVER. I was sitting there thinking "GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, WE GET THE POINT!" However, that's just a minor complaint.
So really, the only issue I had with the movie is that it had some moments that dragged. After I watched the movie, I didn't completely understand it. That's a good thing. I thought about the movie as I went to sleep and throughout today, and I thought about the themes in the movie. I thought about some of the quotes the characters said, and tried to guess at the messages Anderson was attempting to convey with his film. The film also allowed my friends and I to discuss it for a while. It was haunting. I love haunting films.
Now I suppose you're all wondering (why do I even act like people read this thing) about when I am going to absolutely shred a movie into nothingness. All I have to say is wait until the summer movie season. I inevitably will be dragged to some bullcrap movie filled with special effects and Robert Downey Jr. and will absolutely despise it. Furthermore, everybody saying how much they enjoyed the movie will fuel my rage even more, and will lead to a post filled with so much anger you will probably feel the disgusting spittle come off of my raving mouth through your computer screen.
That's it. I need to talk about music here pretty soon, so expect a music review in the next post.
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