Movie Talks Archives

Posted by: Mike Sampson at May 29, 2001, 12:17 pm

Topic: MAGNOLIA (May 28 - June 3) Forum: JoBlo

Well allow me to be the first to take the "anti" stance and challenge the majority of postings. I did NOT like MAGNOLIA. Let me go on record as saying I LOVE PT Anderson as a director. BOOGIE NIGHTS is easily a top ten movie in my book and HARD EIGHT/SYDNEY is another fave. But somewhere along the line, PT lost me with this one. When I first watched it in the theaters, I didn't enjoy it at all. Upon the recommendation of many who loved it, I gave the film a second chance on DVD. I still didn't like it. There were some things I did like (i.e., the opening sequence, the performances of Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman and William H. Macy, the cinematography) but overall I felt the film was too jumbled and too long to accurately get the message across that it was trying to convey. My biggest problem with the movie is that the movie seems to be one big three hour climax with no resolution. I read that Anderson patterned the movie after the Beatles song "A Day in the Life." OK, that's cool, it's a great song and the format is great for 4 minutes or so but in a three hour plus movie format, that just doesn't work for me. I hate complaining about the length of a movie, but like JoBlo said with PEARL HARBOR, this could've had at least 30-45 minutes chopped and it would've helped exponentially. Maybe I was just expecting too much from this movie. I love the way Anderson brings out the best in his actors, but acting is just one part of making a successful film. There needs to be more substance; something you can sink your teeth into beyond "sometimes things happen and then weird things happen and then it just makes sense that frogs fall from the sky." Which, while most people cite this as their only gripe with the film, is one of my favorite scenes. This, for me, was the only way to end a film like this. Does any of this make sense? I'm not a critic, so sometimes I have a hard time articulating my views on a film beyond the liked it/hated it judgment. Joey

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