Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 3512391303877
Format: Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC
Region Code: 2
Theatrical Release Date: January 07, 2000
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
A handful of people in the San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed; his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is popping pills with alarming frequency. Earl's nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl's only son, sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), who's about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show What Do Kids Know? Meanwhile, Stanley's predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of What Do Kids Know?, the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain.
This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) is a maddening, magnificent piece of filmmaking, and it's an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman--every little piece of the film means something, and it's solidly there for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that's amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of Magnolia is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it's been far too long since we've seen a filmmaker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful, and this electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise's revelatory performance to Reilly's quietly powerful turn as the moral center of the story. While at three hours it's definitely not suited to everyone's taste, Magnolia is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful mediation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. Featuring eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including 'Save Me.' --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?
'Magnolia' is quite a film, and though I could find fault with it, it is almost too impressive and monumental to attack. It is kind of like a mosaic, where a lot of interrelated characters and intertwined stories keep our interest, keep us waiting to see how it will all connect and how all the story threads will be tied together--but some are while others end ambiguously. The promised epiphany is never delivered--and yet I am forced to applaud Anderson's bravado, spunk, and panache. I think the title, Magnolia, was meant to imply that the various and sundry story lines were like the petals of a flower (it seems like whenever they are in a different room, there are always pictures of flowers on the wall). The title "Magnolia" not only refers to Magnolia Blvd in Los Angeles, where much of Magnolia takes place, but is also similar to the term Charles Fort (who is referenced many times in this film) coined for a hypothetical place where things that fall from the sky originate - "Magonia".
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Quiz Kid Donnie Smith: Have you ever been struck by lightning? It hurts.
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The mosaic, flower petal structure is kind of like the Oscar winning Crash--but at least Crash, it could be argued, had a unifying theme of racism and racial tensions in Los Angeles to tie it all together. Magnolia does have a kind of a thesis, that strange coincidences happen in life, and if they were in a movie, you wouldn't believe ... Read More
Rating: - There Will Be Frogs
Magnolia seems to get better each time I watch it. After seeing it 3 times, I now realize it's a brilliant work and one of the all time classics for a drama. The performances are just unbelievable. All of the actors completely immersed themselves into their roles. This type of passion is rarely seen in today's cinema. Paul thomas anderson captured magic in a bottle and Magnolia lives on as a documantation of brilliant cinema. It is story driven and character driven and it is why Paul Thomas Anderson in my oppinion is one of the best directors and writers in Hollywood.
Rating: - the darkside
it is the bitter end of coffee - it is the twisted dark side of life - it is a masterpiece - I have watched it about a dozen times and everytime it brings home a new meaning. It is probably one of those rare movies where all the actors and actresses gave their life time best performance - specially Tom Cruise. It is about life - it is about our life - it is about my life - we build things and then they fall apart and we cry - we look for help and sometimes we get that help. If you ever have had a tough life then you will find a rare connection with a Hollywood movie and fall in love with it.
Strange things happen and they happen in our life and the movie depicts sometimes how all these can happen together - they may not be connected with a clear thread but there is an underlying sadness which ties them
Rating:  - Long, dark and depressing
Looking at the summary of reviews here on Amazon, it is clear that this is a "love it or hate it" movie. I don't fall completely into either of those camps, but I thought the director was trying WAY too hard to be arty, avant-garde and mysterious. There are too many balls in the air, and for the first half of this three-hour movie the plot lines seem totally unrelated. Tom Cruise is wonderful as the smarmy "seduce and destroy" seminar leader, until the deathbed scene near the end, when he goes right over the top, wailing and flailing.
The two main problems with Magnolia, as I see it, are that almost none of the characters are very likable, and the production is very dark. Many of the scenes are shot at night or in dark rooms, and the result is a cold, dark feel. Coupled with the sad, screwed-up lives of most of the protagonists, this makes for a depressing film.
Rating: - movie
funny how 9 years ago, when the movie first came out.I did'nt care for the movie at all.I liked Tom Cruise,that was the draw to the movie.But now 9 years later, I watched the movie again,and this time I have to say that I liked it.I still don't understand the frog scenes.
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