Much like Pitchfork with Interpol, I would like to downgrade my initial rating of Magnolia. Came out in 1999. PTA was obviously flying high from the commercial and critical success of Boogie Nights so he decided to do something modest like release a three hour movie that explains, what? I'm not quite sure, coincidence? Regret? He is on record saying he wish he would have chilled out and cut 20 minutes. Probably more like 45 would be good.
The use of this music in this movie is terrible, almost from the first scene. Well, the first scenes are old-timey Ripley's Believe it or not-style coincidences that could def be cut.
Then we have Aimee Mann covering the Nilsson song "One". I really love Nilsson and this song of course is good, not one of my faves. But PTA plays the entire (7 minute) cover as he sets up his many, many intertwining stories, over dialogue and even over snippets of other music. It was super irritating and put me on edge for the start of my long filmic journey.
That, and the incessant use of a tense score to create building tension that the scenes have not earned through what is actually happening in the scene really hurt this movie for me.
There are so many plots, I may not even hit them all.
The dimbulb kindhearted cop plot did not age well. Fuck this guy.
The entire quiz show plot, including both the prodigy kid and the host, not interesting.
Quiz show prodigy grown up, also not that compelling.
Game show host daughter, I guess sort of interesting. She does so much coke that it made me wonder how much coke PTA did in his heyday. It's also hard to trust anything that's going on with her because she's so high out of her mind.
The sole interesting plots are the two intertwining ones of Tom Cruise as incel pickup artist guy, and Jason Robards as dying dad with Julianne Moore as regretful trophy wife. Philip Seymour Hoffmann is affecting as nice guy nurse with moist eyes.
Jason Robards is amazing, and deserved awards. Julianne Moore does a lot with a thankless role, and Cruise brings the little bit of fun to be had in this movie.
If you cut out all the trappings like the old-timey coincidence intro and outro, the rain of frogs, the music use including the mid-movie singalong and you are just left with the two intriguing plotlines. Maybe that would have been a really good movie, hard to say.
When it came out, I saw it in the theater and I was somewhat into it. I was sucked in and didn't mind the musical sing along part. It felt like it had something to say, but now that I think about it I'm not so sure.
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