Former Reviews
-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
-Inglourious Basterds
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
-Paper Mario
Info about the movie
Title: Magnolia
Year: 1999
Genre: Drama
Duration: 180 minutes
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This movie was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It was a great recommendation in my opinion. I really loved this movie from the beginning to the end.
In this movie, there are NINE main characters who all have a storyline of their own. These characters are:
- a police officer
- an old, dying man
- the old mans nurse
- the old mans famous and lost son
- the old mans much younger girlfriend
- a TV quizmaster with cancer
- the quizmaster's drug-addicted daughter
- a wizkid
- an ex-wizkid
Although some of these characters have direct connections with each other, altogether they do not seem to share that much in common. However, during the course of this movie you'll see that their stories slowly start to intertwine. I expected it to go to a personal confrontation between all of them, mainly because the introduction of the movie focused so much on 'coincidence'. But that's not really what happens. I'm not gonna say what does happen, because I think I'll spoil it too much for you if I do.
The ending is a bit surprising and gives something to think about. I didn't quite get it myself at first and thought that it was weird. However, after looking it up my opinion changed drastically and although I'm not even sure if I completely get it right now, I think it is actually a brilliant way to end the movie. So my advice to anyone who does not get what the ending means: Look it up! Otherwise you're really gonna miss something and that's gonna be such a shame.
Technically I don't think there is much to complain. The acting was good enough, but nothing too impressive as far as I could see. Nice role for Tom Cruise though who won an award for his performance here. The soundtrack was very nice. There aren't many songs included in this movie, but the songs that are in it are used very effectively. I remember somewhere between the first and the second hour of this movie there is this loop playing for a long time. You see the camera switching between characters more often and the pace starts to pick up. It is as if some master plan has been set in motion and everything is going a bit too well for everyone. I really loved that personally. Also, there is this scene where "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann is played. All characters hear this song and start singing along with it. I know it may sound a bit cheesy, but this is probably the most crucial scene in the movie and I think it's wonderfully done.
Overall I think Magnolia was a unique and awesome experience. It is definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen. To anyone who hasn't watched it yet: I strongly recommend it.
