Customer Reviews

Magnolia

5 star:		(371)
4 star:		(75)
3 star:		(63)
2 star:		(53)
1 star:		(130)

 

 

There have been many terrific reviews written by other Amazon members that go into great detail about why this film was fabulous or why it worked or didn't. So I won't waste time boiling down all of the stories going on in this film again.

"Magnolia" is a near masterpiece...

The reasons it was a box office dud are too numerous to mention, but they run the gamut from its confusing title -- to the decision to keep superstar Tom Cruise's name in the background -- to the bad-worth-of-mouth recorded by rating services which survey people looking for conventional narratives and resolutions as they walk out of theaters.

I see 50 to 60 films a year (and not for a living), and I avoided "Magnolia" out of fear. Fear of wasting time, more important than wasting money. And another concern was the film's controversial resolution, the critical element that determines the success or failure of most movies with a mass audience. Now that I've seen "Magnolia" on video and have finally been able to philosophically, intellectually and logically string together its elements, there is no doubt that this is one of the most wonderful accomplishments on film ever made. "Magnolia" takes you on a journey whereby a master story teller challenges you to hang onto a breathtaking ride of images, content and music, and find the thread that strings everything, including the last 20 minutes...together in a way that makes coherent sense.

Yes, the point of the movie is that there are things that defy scientific logic. "Magnolia" tackles this premise and applies it to human behavior in a dazzling kaleidescope of aural, verbal and visual montages -- which make it IMPOSSIBLE -- to stop this film to come back to later. You're pulled into the tornado, wondering how's it going to end?

This film is worth BUYING, especially with all of the extras on DVD. But it's also worth "previewing." I won't lie to you. A conventional audience might not like "Magnolia's" structure and its last 20 minutes. But the rest of it is hands down wonderful. I guarantee you will enjoy it. The acting, the story, the dialogue are consistently mesmerizing, from start to finish. I can't guarantee you will agree with the cosmic, unexplainable force that joins everything together in the end. Personally, I would have chosen something less comical -- and saying "frogs falling from the sky" doesn't spoil the point of the movie even though I would have preferred huge hailstones on a July afternoon in California. The controversial decision to visualize what for most of the movie is abstract -- is the root of why I think the film is misunderstood by some -- and hated by others.

Yet I believe "Magnolia" is a fabulous film. Whether you like the film on the whole or not, I guarantee that you won't be bored, which is the curse of all lousy movies. Everything about "Magnolia" is mesmerizing. And if the resolution seems initially a bafflement, if you think about it some more, everything will make sense. You will find that things that seem visibly ridiculous or irrational are no more or less the same as the "unscientific randomness" of human behavior that is TOTALLY PLAUSIBLE.

In sum, see this, rent this, buy this -- but don't dismiss or ignore "Magnolia" -- it's 99 7/8ths the work of a great young master.

There are scenes, and lines, in Magnolia that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The narrator saying periodically "And the book says, we may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." Aimee Mann singing "Wise Up" and "Save Me". Policeman Jim Kurring saying "Sometimes people need a little help. Sometimes people need to be forgiven. And sometimes they need to go to jail. But if you can forgive someone, well, that's the tough part. What can we forgive? Tough part of the job. Tough part of walking down the street." This is the most deeply human movie I have ever experienced.

If you can appreciate that a movie can touch your heart, can be something more than just simple entertainment, and can actually say something both simple and profound about the human condition, then you will love Magnolia. It is not easy watching. It is at turns foul-mouthed, confused, chaotic, irrational, depressing, uplifting, unrealistic, too realistic, unpredictable, heavily symbolic, violent, and unflinchingly, gut-wrenchingly honest in its portrayal of damaged characters trying to make sense of the wreckage of their lives. And yet, through all of this there is a beacon of hope and redemption that shines through, and most of the characters do find the strength to carry on. Watching Magnolia is like having an entire lifetime's worth of powerful emotions crammed into a three hour movie. If you have an open mind, and an open heart, you must see this movie. I have a hard time imagining how anyone will ever be able to make a better one.

I work at one of the few theaters which had the opportunity to play the new film by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson: Magnolia. When selling tickets and people ask me, "what is this Magnolia movie about?" I reply, "It's a story of chance and coincidence in the San Fernando Valley with a romance at its heart." This is rather vague and broad, but it is intriguing to the moviegoers. I do warn them that Tom Cruise's character, Frank T.J. Mackey, has some very graphic and harsh dialogue, and that the running time is long, but I would say that ninety percent of the audience walks out happy having seen such a beautiful film.

The film follows eleven characters through one rainy day which culminates in a sequence so forceful that you feel just as physically and mentally drained as those inside the celluloid. The eleven characters all branch off from an old man dying of cancer named Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) who lays in a bed through the whole movie. He is married to Linda (Julianne Moore) and is looked after by nurse Phil Parma (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Earl's last wish is to speak with his son, Frank (Cruise).

Earl is also the executive producer of "the longest running quiz show on television: What Do Kids Know?" The TV game show is at an exciting point in its run for a new group of "Kids" led by Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman) is close to breaking the record for consecutive wins held by former quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy). Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall) is the host who is also dying of cancer. He has a wife, Rose (Melinda Dillon), and an estranged daughter of his own: Claudia (Melora Walters).

Claudia is addicted to cocaine and listens to her music way too loud. Her neighbors call the cops and Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly) is sent to her door and they subsequently flirt which leads to a date. It is their romance which I feel is central to the film.

The eleventh character does not have nearly as much screen time as the previous ten, but is the most important character of all. He is Dixon (Emmanuel Johnson), the candy selling, ten year old "rapper" who drops clues as to what might happen in an early freestyle flow.

What does happen is a painfully brilliant and heartbreaking story of love, coincidence and redemption. There are many double stories like in King Lear: the two dying fathers with estranged children; both fathers have people who work for them who love them even more than their own family; we also see the young and old versions of a child genius showing how the present parental mistreating will affect him in the future; and there is a set of designated caregivers (the cop and the nurse), who echos Lear's fool.

The whole film is told through constant cross cutting between stories and interactions. For the first two thirds of the film there is always some form of music the pictures are set to, be it the score or rock songs. The director has learned a lot of his show-offy technique from Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman; he has Scorsese's eye and ear for mood setting music and Altman's grand scope and vision-a great foundation for a director. In his previous film, Boogie Nights, the director just seemed to be quoting those two, but in this present film, he has found his own style and rhythm. His ear for dialogue is great, he elicits great performances from his actors and knows how to make every minute count. A running time of 180 minutes is pretty steep but it flew right by. And if asked, I would not know where to cut the film. Paul Thomas Anderson is completely enamored with everything in this film-his story, his actors and his own filmmaking (the camera in particular).

Roger Ebert refers to the movie as "operatic." I can see where he is coming from, its ambition and length are operatic and there is the incessant use of music in the background, sometimes drowning out the dialogue so we only hear phrases and have to read lips. I would refer to the film as rhapsodic, ecstatic in the act of filmmaking and storytelling, coming to peaks just short enough not to peak too early and eventually reaching the ultimate climax like a great jazz song. All this to tell us you can't really plan ahead because you don't know what will happen. It also reminds us that sometimes plans work out and you should just go with it like when Claudia kisses Jim upon returning from the bathroom and said, "I'm glad I did that, I needed to do that."

I'm glad Mr. Anderson make this film. It showed me that I should remember the small things, that love isn't as hard as it may seem to find, and that I need to know somebody loves me back and I should accept their love. This may sound like the lovelorn teenager in me, but I feel it to be true. This is my kind of romance film.

Strange things happen in life; random occurrences sometimes so bizarre that the reality of it is often stranger than fiction, things one would say could only happen in a movie, and if they did, you wouldn't believe it. But then again, maybe those things happen in movies because they actually do happen in real life. And when they do, is it fate, or coincidence? Are these "random" acts isolated, or merely pieces of some larger, synchronistic puzzle that somehow fit together in the end? Thought provoking questions for the ages, some would say, proficiently addressed here by writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson in his discursively brilliant film, "Magnolia." Anderson puts the lives of a diverse cross-section of individuals and seemingly unrelated incidents under the microscope for an examination of these random acts and coincidences, from which he ultimately draws some conclusions about providence and happenstance. What he finds is fraught with irony and underscored by the notion that what happens to one must and does, in fact, effect another sooner or later, for better or worse. All of which serves to point out that no man stands alone; in the end, bills come due and must be paid. We must all face the consequences of past decisions and actions, at which time the relevance of the irrefutable symbiotic nature of Man comes so vividly into play, wherein dissimilar individuals may reap the benefits of simply being a part of the community of Humankind. Or then again, perhaps not. The story Anderson weaves is fast-paced, sometimes frantic, and thoroughly engrossing, achieving levels of emotional intensity that are at times remarkable. The quick pacing of the film belies the gradual way the story comes together to form the tangible connections derived from the intricacies of the plot. It's a dynamic piece of filmmaking, extremely well written and delivered by Anderson and his superb cast. There are a number of memorable performances here, among them Tom Cruise, who plays Frank T.J. Mackey, a self-styled guru of the "men's movement," whose teachings are anathema to feminists everywhere. It's an intense performance (for which he deservedly received an Oscar nomination), quite unlike anything he's done before, and possibly his best work since "Rain Man." Other notable performances are turned in by William H. Macy, as "Quiz Kid Donnie Smith," the once gifted youth who emerges dysfunctional in adulthood, and by John C. Reilly, as Officer Jim Kurring, a caring individual with a truly benevolent nature. But the most superlative performance of the movie is given by Philip Seymour Hoffman, as a male nurse named Phil Parma. His sensitive, subtle portrayal of this caretaker to dying man Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), is delivered with nuance and incredible depth, and provides some of the most poignant moments in the film. While taking nothing away from Cruise, who was outstanding as well, Hoffman is the one who should have been nominated, moreover, should have won, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work here. A performance just doesn't get any better-- or more real-- than this, and it is unacceptable that it should not be recognized as such. Rounding out what is, in essence, an ensemble cast, are Philip Baker Hall (Jimmy Gator), Julianne Moore (Linda Partridge), Melinda Dillon (Rose Gator) and Melora Walters (Claudia Wilson Gator). One of the best films of 1999, "Magnolia" conveys a moral without moralizing, is rich in metaphor and altogether captivating, with an ending that may take you aback, if indeed, you haven't been paying close attention (there are at least two clues during the film, admittedly obscure, but there nevertheless). It is intense, unremittedly so, and may leave you breathless and pondering the mysteries of life; but this is filmmaking at it's best, and especially for avid movie-watchers, one that absolutely must not be missed.

Magnolia is one of those films where less would have been more. In attempting to do so much, the film actually suffered from excessive brilliance. Paul Thomas Anderson gives us a powerful auteur piece that succeeds on most levels, but comes up short of its true potential.

The story follows one day in the lives of nine major characters and a host of minor ones whose lives are loosely connected to one man by various threads. Anderson does inspired work, giving us deep character development for each of the nine. Many themes run through the work, but the most pervasive is that of guilt and remorse. Moreover, almost every effort at atonement was rejected or thwarted in some way, evoking great pathos and a sense of despondent fatalism. This is clearly some of the best and most thought provoking dark writing ever done.

From a directorial standpoint, the film was a magnificent display of directorial virtuosity. Anderson handled scenes, actors and visual details with the flair of a maestro. The swirl of scenes from character to character, the use of the camera and music, the juxtaposition of scenes, everything was superbly done. Yet, the whole was less than the sum of the parts due to Anderson's inability to let go of elements that encumbered the film (an irony since one of the main themes of the story was about being able to let go).

Michaelangelo once commented that inside every block of marble, there is a masterpiece, and the sculptor needs only cut away the right pieces. Editing is one of most excruciating tasks of an auteur since each excision discards part of his soul. However, stoical editing is the area that differentiates great writer/directors from the good ones.

This film had everything necessary to be one of the truly great films of our times, but it suffered from excess. There were too many characters. The story would have lost almost nothing by eliminating Donnie (William Macy), Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly) and Claudia (Melora Walters). These characters really didn't add that much to the philosophical points being made in the film and made the film unwieldy. This would have trimmed forty-five minutes to an hour from the film and turned the focus more on the relationship between Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) and his son Frank (Tom Cruise) that was the very best element of the film.

Also, Anderson went overboard on the profanity. I am no prude in this regard. I believe that profanity adds realism to a film because people are frequently profane in real life. I disdain the self-righteous prigs who are offended by it. However, overuse of any device to the extent that it starts to burden the story ultimately detracts from it. Anderson crossed that line. It seemed like he was trying to set a record for frequency and volume of vulgar expletives. If all the profanity were edited out, the film would have been 30 minutes shorter and Julianne Moore would have had about five lines.

Finally, the plague of the frogs taken from Chapter 8 of Exodus was ill advised, as was the chorus of song by all the major characters at their point of greatest despondency. Anderson was trying to make important points with both of these devices, but in the process, they trivialized an exceptionally powerful drama to the point of eye rolling incredulity.

Anderson was so uncompromising about every detail of his artistic vision that he missed the Big Picture (pun intended). The final version that was released would have been better released later as the director's cut. If Anderson had edited the theatrical release effectively, he could have had it both ways. He could have had a commercial success, critical acclaim, and he still could have given people an opportunity to see his entire vision.

As to the acting, this is probably the best ensemble performance I have ever seen. Tom Cruise was nominated for a best supporting Oscar and much as I love Michael Caine and his performance in "The Cider House Rules", this was no contest. Cruise was electrifying. This was one of his best performances ever. I also thought Jason Robards' performance was worthy of supporting actor nomination. He was tremendous as the dying patriarch. The rest of the cast was phenomenal without exception.

It is easy to understand why this film failed at the box office (at $23M, it grossed $14M less than its $37M budget). It was far too abstruse, intense, dark, philosophical and wry (not to mention lengthy) to have popular appeal. Of those who actually saw it, most either loved it or hated it. I must admit to feeling both emotions. I loved its genius but I hated that its final form didn't do that genius justice. Thus, I rated it an 8/10. It will undoubtedly become a cult classic rather than the true classic it could have been.

I watched Magnolia last week on television pay per view, in my hotel room, at the end of a terribly long day at work - not the best time to see a movie. Yet what I saw was so enthralling, so moving, my attention was rapt.

There are scenes in some movies that are terribly moving because the writer has such sympathy for people who are hurt or lost in some way. I think of Timothy Hutton's character in Made in Heaven or Diane Lane's in Walk on the Moon. Magnolia has that sympathy in spades for an entire world in hurt, living in regret or frustration or worry. Although some reviewers clearly didn't respond, I think the vast majority of people will.

It's an interconnecting tale of many characters with connections to one another's pasts or present (either through family or work) in a day in the Los Angeles suburbs. There are many recurring subjects - parents and children, drug addiction, television, forgiveness, insecurity of one's appeal to others, cancer, the haunting of the past, coincidence itself.

The acting is superb, the movie deliberately unrealistic in some effects, yet terribly so in many others. The "philosophy" of the movie is quite old-fashioned - a restatement of the importance of love and understanding between people, regardless of their failures as human beings. There is an astonishing simplicity about much of the dialogue - e.g., "Dad, you've got to be nicer to me" and much of what the policeman says about forgiveness.

I have read reviews here attacking the screenplay - yet most people will want to cry during the course of it. That's pretty powerful.

The movie is haunting - when it's over, it makes the particular thing you are doing seem insignificant. Why are its effects so profound? I don't know - perhaps because the characters are so well drawn, the acting so magnificent, the desires of the characters so present in all of us, the intensity of the dilemmas facing human beings so vividly displayed.

This is a movie that will strike very deeply. It cannot easily be chewed, discussed and forgotten in a drink with another after the movie. It doesn't easily lend itself to "I liked this part, how about you?" sort of discussion.

This wonderful movie is probably best seen alone. Do see it - you won't forget it.

PT Anderson's Magnolia is a beautiful picture that tackles many interpersonal issues. The scope of this film is huge, and it's hard to imagine how anyone other than PT Anderson could have made this movie. Mr. Anderson has said he got the idea for the film from his good friend Aimee Mann, who had written a song with the lyric, later to be used in the film, "now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing each other again?". This phrase may SOUND strange but if you think about the human dynamic, you can understand what this means. When newly acquainted with someone you are putting on your best face; you realize that to develop a real relationship with that person you will inevitably end up letting him/her see some of the parts of you that perhaps you are uncomfortable facing yourself. You can only stay "perfect" for a short period of time; there is no way out of letting our flaws show to others. Example: someone feels like "if you got to know me, and knew the REAL me, you would run away. So I will run away first before I ruin the good first impression you have".. etc..

Speaking of the notorious rain scene, I like to think of it as the death of a person's dreams enacted in real time. I think of the frogs as the "princes" of the world, who cannot help anymore and have been rejected; never kissed. In other words, chivalry cannot save us now; the chance for our fantasies to come true has ended. Going back to what I stated in the first paragraph, if you have seen the movie, one could think of the female character that dates John C Reilly and says the phrase above as a wounded person who cannot reach out and save herself from the demons of her past life experience.

The filming style of this movie (cinematography) is amazing. Julianne Moore plays perhaps her best role yet as a woman who marries a man not for love, but for his money and only when he is dying of cancer does she finally realize that she loves him deeply. During her marriage she never appreciated what she had; you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

Overall, this is a piece about the pain that we humans cause one another; how one person hurts us and then we turn around and hurt another. It is also about the human capacity for love and kindness, and how the cycle of abuse will not end until we learn to face our flaws and mistakes and realize that we will probably make the same mistakes again. This makes us human.

The best description of the ideas of this movie comes in the form of the songs of Aimee Mann, on the soundtrack. She inspired this movie and the music is transcendental. In the song, "Momentum", she sums up the running theme of the film in the line "oh, for the sake of momentum I'm condemning the future to death SO IT CAN MATCH THE PAST".

Overall an amazing film, and awkward to talk about; better to see it for yourself.

P.T. Anderson, has, to put it bluntly, changed my life. He changed my life by making this exquisite, beautiful epic of eleven interwoven, powerful, and stunning characters. When I first saw this film, for the first time in my life, I felt compelled to sit though all of the credits becuase it was so spectacular!

People have said enough already about the plot line, so I'll skip that. What I will speak about though are the characters. Many say what makes a film good is if the characters are larger than life. I now and forever disagree. What made this film so exceptional was that the characters ARE life. Every single one of them thinks they are invincible. They all have pain and suffering in the lives. They all experience emotion that we, the audience, as normal people, relate to becuase we feel the same emotions. For instance, when we are confronted that someone we love is dying, we torture ourselves with grief. When we have a dark past, we lie to protect ourselves from pain. When we are alone, we feel lonely.

Magnolia, though only nominated for three and won no Oscars, is something that can't easily be awarded because to us, it hits too close to home and we hate to face the realities of death, loneliness, addiction, and love. Certainly this film deserved many Oscars (Cruise especially because I usually despise him as an actor)--Melora Walters was so honest as Claudia. Jason Robards proved that even as a bedridden old fart we still have regret and issues to face. Julianne Moore (my favorite actress) proved once again that she can take on any role given her (this is probably my favorite performance from her). And P.T.A.--What is there to say about P.T.A.? He is surely one of the most honest and controversial filmmakers today, and I can only hope that his career blossoms with Magnolia, definitely his best film to date.

P.T.A. has courage to show us what life is, and for that he should be commended. He admits to his sources of inspiration (i.e. Altman especially), and you can tell by the outcome of Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Hard Eight that he is not going to settle for anything less than the truth. For that, as well, he should be commended. It is now my goal to make films, because of the beauty of this one, and Magnolia is surely not only my favorite film, but also the one closest to my heart.

Despite its length (3 hours+), despite its complex web of characters and despite the pressure of trying to release another film on the heels of the artistic success of "Boogie Nights", Magnolia is quite simply a brilliant masterpiece of modern cinema.

Paul Thomas Anderson presents us with a powerful drama that becomes (among other things) a meditation upon the long-term consequences of the choices and decisions that we make in our lives and the effect that it has upon those we know and love.

Experiencing the raw emotional honesty of the characters (such as the grown-up child celebrity professing his unrequited love to a young male bartender, or the successful infomercial guru expressing his pent-up rage to his dying father) is a truly gut-wrenching experience. I've rarely seen such powerful and emotionally vulnerable performances. The cast is truly remarkable.

At yet a more abstract level, Magnolia is more than an interesting character study. It depicts the intricate nature of human relationships and the way in which relationships weave their way into the fabric of our individual existences.

Please experience this film....anyone who has lived long enough to have made significant choices that have changed the course of their life will find this film to be a powerful journey.

Paul Thomas Anderson excels at writing tragic and love deprivedcharacters. The deft director proved this ability in his secondfeature, "Boogie Nights", which is considered by many, including Roger Ebert, a sprawling masterpiece. At the age of 29 P.T. Anderson has been praised as part of Hollywood's young and innovative directors. Just by seeing "Boogie Nights" one can notice Anderson's affection and keenness for cinema. His camera movement is electrifying. He shoots long, subtle takes that slither from one character to the next. And when tasked with assembling a cast, he can put the comparable Robert Altman to shame. Born and raised in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, Paul didn't feel that rules apply to him (one can notice this in his editing process), so, he dropped out of high school due to bad grades and a lack of interest. Anderson spent most of his time either at the theatre or working as a production assistant on various television movies. Much like directors such as Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee have the map of New York engraved in their palms, Anderson knows L.A like the back of his hand.

"Magnolia", which is a moody film, manages to hold your attention for an entire three hours without seeming tedious or pretentious. It tells stories of chance and coincidence and is able to prove that strange things do happen. Complex and bizarre matters are feasible. Take the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for instance. But what about the dozens of missiles Iraq launched at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991? These missiles were supposed to inflict a substantial number of casualties, but only two people died and a few were moderately injured. These unexplainable acts do occur. As one of the film's characters says, "these strange things happen all the time".

All but one of the characters in this movie has at least one tragic incident in his/her background. These people, both rich and poor, lead lonely and depressing lives. The film's opening credit sequence appropriately plays the song "One Is The Loneliest Number", which is sung by Aimee Mann. But, the sheer beauty of these 10 assorted characters Anderson compiles is that they all want to redeem themselves by mending the wrong they've caused. These are neglected human beings who yearn for attention.

With excellent performances ranging from Tom Cruise, in his most audacious role to date, to Melora Walters, the ensemble cast is first-rate. Clocking in at 190 minutes, this is the year's longest, and perhaps best film. A great deal of patience is required, but if you're willing to sit through it all, the payoff is worthwhile. "Magnolia" is an awe-inspiring motion picture. It delivers deep emotions that rarely grow weary or sell out much like most of the sappy and artificial dramas currently in theatres. When we see William H. Macy's character, Quiz Kid Donny Smith, pleading for his job as an electronic salesman, informing his boss that there is not a worse time for him to be unemployed, the actor's subtle facial expression as he faces the torment of not being able to hold on to a job, is on the money. Later on when the audience hears him say, "My name is Quiz Kid Donny Smith and I have a lot of love to give", our hearts go out to his bluntness in admitting an intimate secret. This is the sort of integrity "Magnolia" sustains. It is straightforward in expressing the pain of reality. Such as molestation, sexual infidelity, child abuse, and responsibilities.

On a technical level, it's candy for the eye. From the Scorsese-like camera movement to original angle shots, almost every frame is saturated with beautiful colors. The kinetic camerawork and quick cuts all add up to its look. The soundtrack is booming. With numerous songs from Aimee Mann and a score composed by Jon Brion, the tone is well set. Cruise, who is better in the 45 minutes on-screen here than he was in the entire "Eyes Wide Shut", is wickedly brutal.

"Magnolia" begins with the narration of three unrelated stories, which I will not reveal due to their ingenuity. Then, we are taken to the present day and introduced to ten L.A dwellers. Meet Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), a seminar guru whose program, "Seduce and Destroy", teaches indecisive men how to pick up gorgeous women. Frank's motto, makes him a male icon for millions. His father, Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), is rapidly dying of cancer and wishes to see Frank, who has not spoken to him for quite some time, before his ultimate demise. Earl's trophy wife, Linda (Julianne Moore), has a guilty conscience since she only now begins to love her husband, who she just married for his money. Earl's caretaker, Phil Parma (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), has the difficult task of locating Frank.

There's the story of a boy genius named Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman), who is getting tired of always answering the questions on a famous television show, "What Do Kids Know?" The pompous host of this show, Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall), is dying of cancer as well, and wants to clear up matters with his family. His cocaine-snorting daughter, Claudia (Melora Walters), refuses to speak to him, and throws a tantrum when they interact in the beginning. The ex-boy genius, Quiz Kid Donny Smith (William H. Macy), wants corrective oral surgery (braces) to impress a bartender named Brad, who also has braces. And finally there's Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), an honest and bible abiding cop who has fallen in love with Claudia. Jim is a philanthropist that screeches every time he is exposed to vulgar language.

"Magnolia" takes an interlude in the middle for a song sequence in which all the characters nonchalantly sing the lyrics to Aimee Mann's "Wise Up". By this scene you have to acknowledge the fact that Anderson is a bold filmmaker. After sitting on the accolades of "Boogie Nights" for a while, Anderson wanted to take advantage of his power in Hollywood and make a risky movie, even if it meant taking over three hours out of our lives. As for the amphibious creatures displayed in the film's posters and trailers, prepare to be shocked. I was able to empathize with these characters, for they are all tormented souls experiencing difficult dilemmas. Such as Cruise's situation of whether he should see his dying father, who he feels contempt for. This movie will not appeal to some. It demands a lot of attention and time, so those moviegoers who prefer to see nonsensical films, catch "Deuce Bigalow", for the more artistic film-lovers, "Magnolia" is not to be missed.