Review: Magnolia (1999)
Jamey Hughton
**** (out of four stars)
A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall,
John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy and Melora
Walters
Director-Paul Thomas Anderson
Canadian Rating-14A
Released by New Line Cinema - 01/00
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Coincidence is a funny thing.
This is explained in the opening prologue of Paul Thomas Anderson’s
“Magnolia”. Our narrator (Ricky Jay) guides us through several unlikely
scenarios of chance and coincidence that display, with great humor, how
past relevance can intrude on the present. For instance: a man plummets
off the side of a building in a suicide attempt, but is inflicted with a
shotgun blast on his way to landing in netting that would have surely
saved his life. The shotgun was fired by his mother from their apartment
several floors below. With shotgun cocked, she was violently threatening
her husband when the weapon accidentally fired and struck their son on
his descent to the netting. But she insists that, to her knowledge, the
gun was never loaded. Coincidentally, it was he - the suicide “victim” -
had loaded the weapon a few weeks prior, hoping that it would end the
feuding his parents had continued for years. “These strange things
happen all the time,” the narrator concludes. P.T. Anderson has
collected a photo album of lonely, troubled characters in an
intersecting plot line that he uses to prove this thesis.
“Magnolia”, a sprawling masterpiece of operatic grandeur, is an
ambitious film in which the director’s inventive jest never seems to
stop flowing. Anderson leads us through several intertwining stories in
Los Angeles, and each is fascinating for separate reasons. There is the
story of cancer-stricken television producer Earl Partridge (Jason
Robards), who lies on his deathbed, attended to by his unstable young
wife (Julianne Moore) and a caring nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Earl
desperately wants to get in touch with his distant son, who, we soon
realize, is self-help sex guru Frank TJ Mackey (Tom Cruise). Frank has
made himself an icon among males everywhere with his “Search and
Destroy” program and his energized public seminars, in which he
raucously lectures the audience on how to best invade female territory.
There’s the story of game show legend Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall),
who has hosted the beloved quiz show “What Do Kids Know?” for 30-odd
years. Jimmy has also received the news that he is dying from cancer,
and, in light of the fact his strength is deteriorating faster than
anticipated, he tries to reunite with his daughter Claudia (Melora
Walters). Meanwhile, current “What Do Kids Know?” contestant Stanley
Spector (Jeremy Blackman) begins to notice his rigid father (Michael
Bowen) sees him as merely a walking encyclopedia for cash income. And
former child genius Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) ponders the
misfortune of his job at an electronics store, and looks back at his
brief and turbulent 15-minutes of fame.
Finally, there is the story of Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), a
mild-mannered police officer looking for love at age 32. In more ways
than one, Anderson uses the Kurring character as the backbone of the
story. He is kind and thoughtful where other characters are rough and
violent, adding some emotional stability to the mix. As an ensemble
piece, “Magnolia” is superbly crafted. The dignified and accomplished
cast of actors balance their screen time miraculously, and each is given
the spotlight at some pivotal time to properly voice their character’s
emotional dilemma. Everyone (or almost everyone) is successful in
identifying with their character during these critical moments. Hall has
a positively stunning, heart-wrenching breakdown on the game show,
Robards is chillingly effective as he croaks out his untold confessions,
and Walters is phenomenal throughout. However, the brunt of the
recognition deserves to be bestowed upon Mr. Tom Cruise, who delivers a
dazzling, high-voltage performance as Frank Mackey - the kinetic ball of
vivacious energy at the center of Anderson’s amazing concoction.
The cast is astonishing - but you knew that already. The outrageous kick
behind “Magnolia” is writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, a brilliant
filmmaker who shows infinite ambition to plumb the emotional depths of
this work in methods both extravagant and unique. Anderson received
endless praise for “Boogie Nights”, his detailed account of pornographic
filmmaking in the 1970’s. In “Magnolia”, the director shows a keen and
thoughtful eye for pacing. At just over 3-hours in length, the film
could have been a tedious and pretentious experience, but it transforms
into a moving, thrilling and audaciously funny spectacle under
Anderson’s wing. What David O. Russell did earlier this year with “Three
Kings”, P.T. Anderson achieves again here. By the time a totally
outrageous, completely unexpected finale rolls around, you must
acknowledge the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson is a bold and ambitious
filmmaker, and “Magnolia” is a one-of-a-kind experience.
Another highlight is the soundtrack. Many scenes are accompanied by the
music of Aimee Mann, including one expertly integrated segment in which
the characters sing the lyrics of “Wise Up” in episodic fashion. The
musical score, by Jon Brion, blends seamlessly into the fast-moving
action in the 2nd act. But this is not necessarily a “viewer-friendly”
movie. I can tell you right now, many audience members will be utterly
confounded by the director’s style - particularly the Biblical climax.
Those who get involved in the film, though, will realize the treasure
P.T. Anderson has delivered. “Magnolia” is a profound and effective
motion picture, and a monumental achievement in film.
(C) 2000, Jamey Hughton
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"Magnolia" is on my "Best & Worst of '99 - TOP TEN"
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Dennis Schwartz
MAGNOLIA (director/writer: Paul Thomas Anderson; cinematographer: Robert
Elswit; cast: Jeremy Blackman (Stanley Spector), Tom Cruise (Frank T. J.
Mackey), Melinda Dillon (Rose Gator), April Grace (Gwenovier, reporter),
Luis Guzman (Luis), Philip Baker Hall (Jimmy Gator), Philip Seymour
Hoffman (Phil Parma), Ricky Jay (Burt Ramsey), Orlando Jones (Worm),
William H. Macy (Donnie Smith, quiz kid), Alfred Molina (Solomon
Solomon), Julianne Moore (Linda Partridge), John C. Reilly (Jim
Kurring), Jason Robards (Earl Partridge), Melora Walters (Claudia Wilson
Gator), Michael Bowen (Stanley's father), 1999)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
This is a wonderfully chaotic work, meriting high praise for what it
tried to do and not condemnation for what it failed to do. There's such
a thing as something being spoiled because it has too many good things
going for it. That is the case with this ensemble dramatic piece, whose
most telling fault is that it eventually resembles an overblown soap
opera, going on for far too long. Its three hours length and many
subplots will attest to that, even though it is artfully woven together,
but could in all honesty, have enough material for five other movies
within it. Therefore it is not surprising that the ingenuously talented
director, the 29-year-old Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights/Hard
Eight), had to finally tie-up all the loose ends of the story into a
nice knot, which resulted in an ending that won't please too many
because it might seem absurd. But I found myself accepting of its
biblical ending and was impressed by the overall stupendous effort of
this exuberant film, that is pumped with self-confidence and a virtuoso
style. A work that mirrors greatness even if it doesn't quite keep that
greatness in proper focus.
The film does go on for too long, with the only thing that could save it
from never ending is a biblical miracle, but it settles instead for a
plague right out of Exodus in the Bible to make its farewell. That
improbable ending was set up and apologized for in its prologue by the
offscreen narrator, who explained three different bizarre chance
happenings as unlikely but possible, giving cause for the improbable
ending the film comes up with, and after all, how absurd could that
ending be, if the Bible used the same material! In one of those prologue
pieces, a London druggist, in 1911, named Greenberryhill, gets killed by
three drifters named, Green, Berry, and Hill.
The reward the viewer gets for sitting through the long and highly
structured but at times confusing film, that tries to picture life as
being a matter of coincidences, is how brilliant the individual skits
were and how fine the acting was. The cast, of Anderson regulars Philip
Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, and
John C. Reilly, are larger than life figures. To see Jason Robards as a
dying old crotchety TV mogul, with a tube up his nose, made for some
effective dramatics. Even Tom Cruise, as his estranged son, playing an
obnoxious hustling infomercials maker for the product he is selling to
men, so that they can conquer women, was done with a blend of humor and
pathos, making his role less obnoxious than it could have been. In a
role that reminded me, of Jean-Pierre Leaud' outlandish performance in
"Irma Vep." Here, Cruise goes for the jugular, as a boorish male
predator, someone who is just plain unlikable and prone to going off on
rants. What Cruise does, is parody himself and other box-office stars
with big egos. Cruise is becoming a noticeably more polished actor ever
since his Kubrick stint in "Eyes Wide Shut," and deserves much praise
for this role.
This is a Los Angeles based film about the casualities of modernism,
each one lost in their own shame and failure to be loved. Each life is
depicted as being that of a victim, who has been affected by the mass
culture of the TV and popular musical worlds, and crippled
psychologically by such after-effects. They are all-tied together too
neatly and the outcome of their sufferings is too predictable for my
taste. But that can't begin to explain how penetrating a human drama
this is and how acutely aware the young director is of the people's
misery and heartaches he highlights. He is mostly guilty of being
excessive, wanting to put too much of a good thing on the plate, in this
Robert Altman's Short Cuts-Nashville like production. But Anderson
offers more meat in his character's parts than did Altman and more
finesse in telling his story, allowing his actors to expand their roles
more.
The film involves the lives of these nine characters during one rainy
day in Southern California. They are each connected for one of the
following reasons: because something happened in their past that stunted
their growth, by their family relationships, and by mere coincidence.
And, even though all their lives don't intersect, they are all fighting
the same battle to have a clean slate, whether they realize it or not.
There is a sensitive but unappreciated cop, who wants to be of help to
others, James (John C. Reilly), his coke-using junkie date, resentful of
her abusive father, (Melora Walters), her kid game-show host, bastard of
a father (Philip Baker Hall), who has learned that he has an incurable
cancer and wants to make amends for his past sins, and his current whiz
kid star, the unhappy genius, Stanley (Jeremy Blackman), who is bullied
by his father, and there is the former whiz kid, now a pathetic grown
man with problems over his homosexual love life and his failure to be
financially successful, Donnie Smith (William H. Macy ). There’s also
the game show’s wealthy producer, who lies in pain as he is dying,
requesting only to speak to his son who won't talk to him now, Earl
Partridge (Jason Robards), and the gorgeous younger, unfaithful wife he
married when he left his cancer striken first-wife, the now hysterical
and remorseful Linda (Julianne Moore), and Earl's estranged son, who
when he was 14-years-old nursed his abandoned mother suffering from
cancer until she died, the TV pitchman, full of denial and hatred about
his past, Frank T. J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), and finally, the home care
nurse, Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is sexually frustrated,
given to read Hustler magazine, but who is dedicated to looking out for
Mr. Partridge as best as he can.
The performances by all were superb, but Reilly's and Hoffman's were
better than superb, in a film that didn't have a featured player, but
allowed each performer to take his or her time telling their story, as
Anderson was able to create a somewhat seamless work out of this
separate skits, making use of different camera angles, using TV
intercutting methods, fast-cut editing, and utilizing a provocative
visual style. He also made the story seem fresh and moving in many
different directions to catch all the personalities involved in the
story. He also made use of a song, through the performance of Aimee
Mann, who somewhere more than half-way through the film, sings the theme
song of the film, and it is heard first by one character, then another,
until all the film's troubled souls are brought together by a single
refrain. "It's not ... going to stop," as each one sings, as if
signaling the approach of some impending doom.
Whatever fault one might find with the film, that fault is countered by
how interesting and refreshing the film felt, and with the director's
flair for taking risks. The unbelievable tale puts one into the mood of
the magic happening onscreen, and the magic was not necessarily in what
was extraordinary and not in the cleverly plotted coincidences, but in
the telling tragedies of the lost souls and their injured psyches,
casualities that are inevitable in America's modern world of
consumerism. The cry for love can be heard on the lips of the two
deathlike, philandering fathers, and on all the other lost souls, each
searching for a place to fit in and for a way to love someone and be
loved in return.
Incidently, the title of the film comes from the name on the street
sign.
REVIEWED ON 1/28/2000 GRADE: A-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
Walter Frith
A movie review by Walter Frith
Member of the 'Online Film Critics Society'
http://www.ofcs.org
'Hard Eight' and 'Boogie Nights'. 1996 and 1997 were good years for
director Paul Thomas Anderson. Two films that established him as a hard
boiled and progressive film maker. His influential style, that of a young
Robert Altman, was breath taking to behold. Particularly 'Boogie Nights'.
A film which spanned six years and gave us an evenly balanced look at
several characterizations and the film knew where its high points and low
points were. The decibel level was right on the money. My, how things
change. 'Magnolia' is an over stuffed stinker that reeks with pretentious
situations and over written scenes of ulcerating ugliness. It does this
from its opening scene and tries to explain that co-incidence and
unlikeliness are the most bizarre facts of life
The most depressing film I've ever seen is 1998's 'Affliction'. Superb
acting from all (including James Coburn's Oscar win for Best Supporting
Actor) but the film had a strange and curious path of familiarity for many
families and the picture concentrated itself on the actions of only a few
major characters. I said in my review that while being truthful, that
didn't seem to matter much because the overall purpose of film is to
entertain and I questioned the entertainment value of such a film and a
similarly depressing film from 1998 entitled 'A Simple Plan' which suffered
from the same fate and while recommending that film, I like it less and
less the more I think about it. I had to debate for almost a week and
finally gave 'Affliction' a marginal recommendation for its stain of genuine
emotional truth.
'Magnolia' also makes the mistake of trying to bombard the screen with too
much over the top material that it loses track of its entertainment value.
The film is like being grabbed by an octopus and pulled in so many
directions that you're exhausted after finally escaping, the equivalent of
leaving the theatre for movie goers. Leaving 'Magnolia' is indeed an escape
rather than a departure. The film's glib symmetry will be mistaken by some
as high powered drama but it suffers from an ending which goes against the
first rule of screen writing. I call it the 'red herring' factor. A final
scene that is out of left field with no warning given to the audience and is
a ridiculous and cheap way to end all it thinks its accomplished.
The story is an ensemble piece that shows the lives of about a dozen
characters, some of whom aren't worth mentioning because their scenes are so
one dimensional. Senior to the film is Jason Robards, a dying man named
Earl Partridge who is trying to contact his long lost son Frank (Tom Cruise)
who has changed his last name to Mackey and wants nothing to do with the
dying spirit of his father after being contacted by Earl's home care worker
(Philip Seymour Hoffman). Frank Mackey is a kind of manipulative
motivational speaker. He tries to expand other men's horizons in the sexual
universe by telling them what sex really is and how to use it to get members
of the opposite gender to fall immediately for them. His seminars come
complete with a spotlight, head set microphone and flashy wardrobe. Some
good work here by Cruise, but I hope the members of the Academy don't give
him an Oscar for it. If they do, it will be in part, a sympathy vote to
compensate Cruise for the ridiculous amount of time he spent making 'Eyes
Wide Shut'. Sure, a great film in the end and one of the best of 1999 but a
film that could have been made in only a few months. Earl Partridge is also
filled with regret for marrying an uncaring and unloving woman named Linda
(Julianne Moore). A neurotic, maniacal female who hates her step son Frank.
Meet Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall). He is the host of a game show where a
group of kids on one side, take on a group of adults on the other and all
the trappings of the game show world are explored in such a manner as to
leave the most foul taste in your mouth after it's all over. Jimmy is dying
and only has a couple of months left to live and tries to make amends with
his wife (Melinda Dillon) and his drug addicted daughter (Melora Walters),
who is about to warm up to a police officer (John C. Reilly). Then there is
the most boring of the stories involving a former child genius (William H.
Macy) as a loser who works at a job he is too overqualified for. Was
William H. Macy trying to top himself by playing a loser similar to the one
he played in his Oscar nominated role in 'Fargo'. You won't top that one,
Billy!
What is most shocking about 'Magnolia' is how it uses its music score. The
music literally goes on for so long that it obliterates the senses and
doesn't know when to quit. The audience I saw it with was stone faced
throughout its ridiculous running time of three hours and gasps of shock and
disbelief hit the auditorium during the unlikely climax. What little there
is to rave about in some of the performances, notably Cruise and Reilly, is
drowned out by a protracted chemistry among its cast and is comparable to
having one of your teeth pulled without anesthetic and then needing all of
your teeth removed because your dentist fouled up. In other words, the film
sets off a chain reaction of dreariness you won't recover from anytime soon
and you won't even care about its characters when it's all said and done.
OUT OF 5 > zero
Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith
http://www.cgocable.net/~wfrith/movies.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * - a must see
* * * * 1/2 - don't miss it
* * * * - an excellent film
* * * 1/2 - a marginal recommendation
* * * - can't quite recommend it
* * 1/2 - don't recommend it
* * - avoid it
* 1/2 - avoid it seriously
* - avoid it AT ALL COSTS
1/2 - see it at your own risk
zero - may be hazardous to your health
Jason Wallis
Rating (out of five): *****
Starring John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip
Baker Hall, Philip Seymore Hoffman, Melora Walters, William H. Macy,
Jeremy Blackman, Alfred Molina, Luis Guzman and Ricky Jay
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by Anderson
Rated R for profanity, drug use, brief nudity and suggested sex
Theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1
Released in 1999
Running 188 minutes
It's difficult to put into words the kind of impact that a film like
Magnolia leaves you with. It's a film so beautiful, so profound, so
unexplainably exhilarating that you can't help but feel charged after seeing
it. But.....
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: this is not a film for
everybody. Something happens at the end of Magnolia that will be talked
about and pondered over for years to come, dividing critics and public alike
into those who see no relevance in the event, and those who see it as the
most original and innovative sequence in recent movie history. Taken at face
value, it's a plot twist so arbitrary and outlandish that it's likely to
send a good deal of theater patrons out the door, laughing and clutching
their sides (at the screening I attended, a good percentage of the audience
walked out in such a way).
Although, once examined and taken into context with the rest of the film, I
can think of no better way to end the movie. And it is your tolerance of
this ending that will finalize your feelings about the film. However,
despite what your personal opinion of the movie may be, there is no denying
its originality.
Sure, the basic premise is familiar; chronicling 24 hours in the lives of an
assortment of San Fernando Valley citizens, Magnolia probably sounds more
than a bit like Robert Altman's 1993 film Short Cuts, another
three-hour-plus drama interlinking various, seemingly-unrelated characters
and events. But it's director Paul Thomas Anderson's style that sets this
film apart from it apparent predecessor. While Altman's film was bitter and
pessimistic, Anderson shows a great deal of affection for each of his
creations.
>From foul-mouthed sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey (an Oscar-worthy Tom Cruise)
and his dying father (Jason Robards) to a kind-hearted cop played by John C.
Reilly (who also starred in Anderson's other two features, Hard Eight and
Boogie Nights), every character in Magnolia is treated with the utmost
respect. Nobody in the film's huge cast ever falters, and Anderson leads
them with such a sure hand that it's no surprise that they make up the best
ensemble performance I've seen in years.
But this is so much more than just a film showcasing great performances.
Tackling universal themes such as forgiveness and redemption like no movie I
've ever seen (and probably ever will see), Magnolia is a very important
achievement in the art of filmmaking.
At one point late in the picture, a key character observes that "you may be
done with the past, but the past ain't done with you". While most movies
would simply address this theme by use of conventional standards, Magnolia
reaches for something more, and conveys its theme with all the intensity and
rage of a thunderstorm. Therein lies its brilliance.
Copyright 2000 Jason Wallis
*Find all of Jason's reviews at
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475
Sean P. Molloy
Starring John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards
Directed by P.T. Anderson
New Line Cinema, Rated R, 1999
Running Time: 2 Hours 59 Minutes
by Sean Molloy
[LIGHT SPOILERS - Nothing here you shouldn't read]
When I become a significant enough celebrity to be interviewed (not
too long now...), inevitably I will be asked how I wound up where I
am. And when that happens, I'll sit back in my flower-encircled
chair... contemplate the ceiling for a moment... and say, "Oh, let's
seeeee..." sigh... "Well, gee, I'd say it's gotta be my strong family
ties, all the common goals and interests I share with my friends... my
unflinching determination... my charismatic smile and humble
modesty... and a sense that, darn it, I know who I am and where I
belong..."
Or, maybe I'll say, "Oh, let's seeeee... it's gotta be a bus ride
twenty-five years ago in Washington DC, a passing compliment to a
stranger about a nice hat, the mechanics of alphabetical order, and a
3 a.m. emergency room visit a couple Januarys back."
Either way. So goes Magnolia.
With his stunning third film, writer/director P.T. Anderson has
composed a beautiful symphony of human interaction. This is a rich and
insightful study of the invisible forces that bind us together even as
they seemingly alienate us. The story darts between the lives of
nearly a dozen lonely people that are all tangentially
connected. Weather patterns are used as both a recurring metaphor for
the fragile, forceful, seemingly chaotic connections between human
lives, as well as a bit of foreshadowing for a scene that I will
continue to marvel at until the day they stop making these moving
picture shows.
Some may ask: "Do we really need to sit through a three and a half
hour movie to find out that we don't have complete control of our
lives? I could have told you that when I was eight." My answer is,
well, no, I suppose you don't have to - but Magnolia never pretends
it's letting us in on something we don't already know.
P. T. Anderson proves here what he hinted at with Boogie Nights - he
is a gifted and talented filmmaker. I once read a book which argued
that entering the mind of another person would be like landing on an
alien shore - strangely familiar, mostly incomprehensible. Anderson
knows this too, it seems, as every character in Magnolia has a unique
history, personality, and drive.
The remarkable cast plays no small part in bringing these people to
vibrant life. There isn't a single off performance here, although in
this crew of standouts, Tom Cruise somehow manages to shine as the
repulsively charismatic Frank T.J. Mackey, a wreck of a human being if
ever there was one. His role requires dynamic personality changes, and
Cruise handles each one precisely right, delivering a complete and
complex character sketch. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, whose recent work
in Boogie Nights and Happiness (among a handful of others) have shown
us he is well on his way to becoming one of the all-time great
character actors, plays a nurse who lives vicariously through those he
takes care of. William H. Macy can do no wrong in my book, and his
role here as a former child game show star Donnie Smith is one of his
finest, as a man with a ludicrously tragic obsession that serves as a
poor placeholder for absent love. A young kid named Stanley Spector
(Jeremy Blackman) is now on the same game show that made former quiz
kid Donnie Smith what he is today. As we watch the young Stanley, we
feel as if we are witnessing a re-creation; then we wonder what would
have become of ol' Donnie if the length of a commercial break and the
size of a child's bladder had somehow managed to intervene in his life
thirty years ago. John Rielly's good-hearted police officer and Melora
Walters' nervous drug addict have an eerie chemistry together - as I
watched I couldn't decide whether they're the perfect match for one
another or exactly the opposite.
Magnolia manages to sustain as relentless and dizzying a pace as this
sort of drama can for the first two hours. I was both completely
engaged and exhausted by the time some welcome calm finally crept in
at the beginning of the third hour... in this case, the calm before
the storm. A remarkable scene, in which the majority of the characters
come to the same realization at the same time - is made more powerful
by one of the best uses of a soundtrack song (Aimee Mann penned the
majority of the songs) in my film-going memory. Moments of eerie
coincidence like this recur throughout and serve to strengthen the
idea that you can never be alone in a crowd.
This is the kind of movie that reveals itself slowly; it was four days
before I finally sorted everything out. Some things still leave me
puzzled, including the title. I made a wild guess that Magnolias
blossom slowly in the morning, but my knowledge of flower behavior is
sorely lacking these days... or perhaps, as the poster would seem to
indicate, each petal on a flower is independent, yet connected to the
whole... or, perhaps still, it's just a cool thing to name your
movie-that-dodges-conventional-naming. I sure as hell wouldn't know
what to call it. There's also a strange and indecipherable (well, to
me, anyway) rap delivered to Reilly's cop character by a potential
prophet - either it contained every answer I was looking for in one
neat little rhyme and I missed it, or it was just superfluous. I'd
have to see it again to figure that one out.
There is nothing timid about Magnolia. It is daring and bold as any
other film in this year of wonderful originality. (You've probably
heard about the brashness of the ending, but I dare not discuss it
here for fear of being drawn and quartered... though oh how it pains
me to hold my tongue...) Magnolia is melodramatic and shameless. It's
one of the best movies I've seen this year.
_____________
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