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After watching this movie for the first time you want
to run out and tell all your friends that they must go see
this movie. They will invariably ask you what it is about.
That question completely floors you. You suddenly realize
that you have no idea how to convey the plot of this movie.
You just end up staring at them blankly and saying things
like there are all these people who don't seem connected,
but they really are in the end, kind of, maybe, trust me,
just go see it. I know this is true because it happened
to me over and over again. And now I have the daunting task
to convince you that you must see this movie Just be thankful
that you don't have to see me stare blankly at you. Magnolia
is the second writing and directorial effort of P. T. Anderson,
with his first movie being "Boogie Nights." The time span
of the film is one day, morning to morning. As the film
moves on you are introduced to character after character.
You see how all their lives seemingly so different are all
effected by one anothers actions. The thing that makes this
film so grand is that all the characters are real. They
all are so human. You can identify with their emotions.
There is guilt, remorse, anger, joy, helplessness the full
range of human emotion. However Anderson does not over do
it. You never feel like you are in a melodrama where the
emotion is over acted. These are real people living real
lives not so different from our own. If I had to pick a
theme of magnolia, as opposed to a plot, it would be that
things like this happen everyday. Not only is the writing
and directing brilliant, but I challenge anyone to assemble
such a fine ensemble cast. Tom Cruise, who earned a Golden
Globe Award, and an Oscar nomination, is particularly outstanding.
In a way it is because he plays a character that we are
not used to seeing him play. He is a bit slimey, not the
most likable guy. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the quintessential
supporting actor. He brings so much to every film he is
in, and this is no exception. If I went on to mention everyone
this would run forever. Suffice it to say that no one in
the cast can easily be forgotten. ***
It’s been ten years since “Magnolia” was first released
and the film played with Tom Cruise’s image with his character
turning him from hero to a darker hued, damaged individual.
Although Cruise has since tarnished his own image with his
increasingly bizarre and absurd behavior dulling the luster
of his own persona (and I’ve felt for years that the character
that Cruise plays in the movie is closer to the REAL Tom
Cruise minus his charm and the deep level of cynicism of
the character he plays here), his performance here is stellar
and truly did deserve an Academy Award nomination. As much
as I dislike Cruise personally, he took a risk and jumped
off the pier of safe roles into an ocean of richer roles
allowing Cruise to tackle morally ambiguous characters since
then. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t like Tom Cruise the PERSON
or actor any more (and honestly my wife can no longer stand
him either nor my daughter based on his idiotic behavior
and attempts to push his bogus “religion” of Scientology—but
he is brilliant here). --
Image & Sound:
We get a top notch BD transfer for “Magnolia. Colors
pop, detail is extremely sharp throughout. Black levels
are consistent and strong throughout the presentation. Detail
is tight and sharp throughout. There are some minor issues
with the presentation but they aren’t a big deal and only
affect one scene in the film. Skin tones aren’t quite on
target but they are consistent as well. ***
Audio sounds good with a busy soundtrack courtesy of
the influence of Robert Altman. The dialogue manages to
be clear for most of the movie but some of the scenes where
it isn’t is intentional with a complex, multi-layered sound
design that nicely integrates Jon Brion’s marvelous and
Aimee Mann’s (and Supertramp’s) songs. ---
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| Special
Features: |
We don’t get any new bonus features for the Blu-ray
but we do get the special features from the original DVD
ported over. We don’t get an audio commentary (director
Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t like to do them anymore after
some issues cropped up in the wake of his commentary track
for “Boogie Nights” which is a pity—he’s a marvelous, insightful
speaker) but we do get “Magnolia Video Diary” that runs
over an hour which covers everything from the beginning
to the completion of shooting. ***
“Frank TJ Mackey Seminar” is a marvelous four minute
deleted scene plus the “Seduce and Destroy Infomercial”
and the “Save Me” music video all directed by Anderson.
We also get the teaser and theatrical trailers as well as
TV spots which provide a textbook example of the BEST type
of trailers out there. ---
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