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Magnolia
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 81 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 17, 1999
DVD: July 25, 2000
Running Time: 188 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong language, drug use, sexuality and some violence
Starring Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, and William H. Macy
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story. (New Line Cinema)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Boogie Nights Hard Eight Punch-Drunk Love There Will Be Blood
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The kind of film I instinctively respond to. Leave logic at the door. Do not expect subdued taste and restraint, but instead a kind of operatic ecstasy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
The kind of brilliantly weirdo picture that, by all rights, shouldn't have gotten made at all but this time, miraculously, was.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
One of the best movies of the year--startling, innovative, hugely funny and powerfully, courageously moving.
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
A quantum leap in ambition from "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights" and is, to my mind, much more interesting.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
Anderson must have needed that bonkers third-hour climax because there was nowhere to go short of spontaneous combustion.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
What leaves you breathless, though, is the knockout acting by the cast.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
At its best, Magnolia towers over most Hollywood films this year.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
The most imperfect of the year's best movies, Magnolia's flaws are easily forgiven because they are the result of go-for-broke ambition.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
If you thought "Boogie Nights" blew it in its final third, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Like Spielberg, even if the content is questionable or the performance is missing, his scenes always manage to be visually thrilling.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Anderson's big, showy flower of a movie unfurls brilliantly, each plot petal a thing of exquisite design. Then it ripens. Then it disintegrates, leaving a mess of color and a faint whiff of rot.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
It's astonishing to see a film begin this brilliantly only to torpedo itself in its final hour.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Highly audacious, hugely enjoyable, exceptionally well-written, brilliantly edited, and exuberantly actor-driven extravaganza.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Anderson strikes a near flawless balance between looseness and structure, and indulges the occasional flight of cinematic fancy without undermining the movie's emotional integrity.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Drunk and disorderly on the pure joy of making movies. A frantic, flawed, fascinating film that is both impressive and a bit out of control, often at the same time.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
As intoxicating as the flower it's named for, and its characters, most of them as flawed and fascinating as the film itself, seem intoxicated by the overpowering scent.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
At times, Anderson may be too brilliant for his own good, and there is a risk that viewers will tire of the director's relentlessly prowling camera.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Exhausting at times, frustrating in others, Magnolia is mostly just exhilarating, the product of a raw, vibrant talent finding his footing in an adult world -- and unafraid to make mistakes.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
There is undeniable power in Magnolia, in which small moments of truth are given epic gravitas, not just by Anderson's adroit cinematic style (no one's camera is more restless or inquisitive), but by the wisdom and compassion of the characters he creates.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Anderson, 29, does so much in Magnolia, with such nerve, with wily humor and out-of-the-blue bravado, that the film's flaws and lapses don't really matter. It ain't perfect, but it's awe-inspiring.
Read Full Review >Variety Emanuel Levy
A remarkably inventive and audacious film that almost overcomes its flaws.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Unlike any other film released this past year, be it from the aspect of its storylines, of which there are many, or its emotional clarity, which is, quite frankly, brutal.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
A hard-striving, convoluted movie, which never quite becomes the smoothly reciprocating engine Anderson ...would like it to be.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
None of the characters in Magnolia feel as vividly imagined as the porn stars and filmmakers and hangers-on of "Boogie Nights."
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
There's precious little to think about despite the screenplay's comic-philosophical musings on fate and coincidence.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
But while this terrific cast gets to strut and preen, it's difficult to make an emotional connection with most of them.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
A brilliant piece of garbage -- mesmerizing, but only because you can't believe someone has the temerity to put so much into so little.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Graham Verdon
I went into Magnolia like a kid running onto a beach with a pail and shovel ready to explore, only to find myself neck deep in quicksand three hours later, screaming for help.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
A three-hour-and-10-minute exercise in slight characterization, pointlessly showy editing and vapid plotting.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 81 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Andrew G gave it a10:
I noticed most of the zero's on here dismiss Magnolia as a boring or artsy film people enjoy because it makes them feel smart. Magnolia makes you feel smart because it IS smart. In fact, P.T. Anderson's shattering of narrative convention is the most unique undertaking since Citizen Kane. I won't ruin the ending, but I will say that different aspects of the film, from the characters to the themes, have already started to converge, making the ending acceptable. Some character studies are boring and have an unwarranted reputation, but not here. If your smart enough and want to invest some time towards wrapping your head around this one, you'll be amazed.
Biff L. gave it a2:
Various blighted, phony, humorless characters strutting and fretting between ridiculous marginally intelligent speechifying, all of them so dishonest, lost and damned that the only salvation (or relief at least) possible would be a plague of equally phony frogs dropping from the sky. Reminded me of the Sam Kinison routine about the people starving in the desert. Like, if your life is really anything like that, why the fuck don't you MOVE? It made my 10 worst films of all time list, nearer the top than the bottom.
B Jones gave it a1:
This movie was garbage, and every scene was drawn out long enough for you to be begging for the next scene, and it added up to a 3 hour piece of junk. Really garbage.
Maya L. gave it a10:
Riveting film with brilliant ensemble!
Kyle S gave it a10:
My favorite movie ever. A beautiful, bold and downright astonishing exploration of a group of realistic and convoluted characters with so many interlocking themes, similarities and events you could fill a book. Incredible acting, an ingenious and entrancing ending sequence, praiseworthy direction, a wonderful script and original songs by the terrific Aimee Mann all bolster this into a hypnotic masterpiece. One thing I will say, though, is that you need to watch this film when you have 3 free hours and nothing on your mind. Let it suck you in... if you are not paying attention, or if you are overthinking, you will hate it.
Ryan D gave it a10:
An emotional masterpiece.
film dude gave it a9:
I was speechless after watching this film lately. I heard good things about it and never had the chance to watch it. At first I thought it felt like experienmental film. Then I realized this film wasn't the conventional single-story driven film that an average hollywood films portray. It was expressing life as a community. Well, a community of a small group. This LIFE felt CHAOS from start to end. To smile it off at the bitter facts of life it decided to throw in the frogs.
