Brilliant film. The cast is just fantastic and the leanth didn't bother me as much as I was very interested in the film. The raining frogs were a bit... odd but that was 1 of the themes of the movie I guess.

- A (IMO better than Boogie Nights! )

The first and almost the last P.T. Anderson I saw. While I admired some things about this film, like the performances of Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore, I didn't care for the movie. Maybe I just don't get it, but the raining frogs at the end was....just stupid.

Luckily, I went on to watch the (thankfully) shorter Punch Drunk Love, which I liked very much.

One of the greatest movies ever made, movies like this are not made anymore and it is sad. Espically since to me (sorry Atoddr) I thought Punch-Drunk Love was not so good.

The ranining frogs, was not weird...it was showing the message of the movie, that is the world has a natural order to it.

I certainly respect your opinion, esp. since you have a Dances With Wolves avatar! You must have good taste in movies!

Actually, the raining frogs could be interpreted in many ways.

I have to remind people that it could and has happened in actual life, and there's a scientific explanation for it. In the movie it had been raining. It is possible that there was some water spout or something tha tpicked up the frogs and then were dropped afterwards.

Or you can look at it in terms of the message of the movie.

But I thought it was a very good movie, a little melodramatic at times but it doesn't take anything away from the overall effect of it.

A-

Well thank you very much, now let me tell you the genius behind SuperBabies 2....

Wanna see this badly!!!!! It was on TV once also, silly me never watched it D'OH!!!!

Magnolia is the best film of the 1990s.

No, I'm serious.

It will have alot to live upto, but i may rent it tomorrow.

It really is a great movie with perfect performances. A

Magnolia - A

Brilliant masterpiece. John C. Reilly and Tom Cruise were superb in it. Julianne Moore was also very good, a tad over-acting, but still good.

The frogs, though? :???:

Loved the frogs.

Do you want me to explian the frogs to you?, or do you want to watch the film again and see if you can piece it together yourself?

WARNING!!!! May contain spoilers and this is not a POSITIVE review of the film!!!

Exodus 8:2 But if you refuse to let them go ( the people ) behold I will plague all your country with frogs.

Okay, so the film is heavy on the subliminal message side. So it has great reference in it to the Bible and comeuppance and an eye for an eye and retribution and all that Old Testament stuff. Here is my question. SO WHAT? How does that make a film good? Why is it that just because there is more than meets the eye to a film that all of a sudden brilliance is associated with it? Whatever happened to a finely tuned script? Whatever happened to actors that don't overact? And how about an editor? These are just several thoughts that trouble me about Magnolia. Films are an expression of ones thoughts and of their mind but please don't sit there and tell me that Magnolia is the best film of the year just because Exodus 8:2 pops up everywhere. That does not make it brilliant. What I will say positively about Magnolia is that there is a good idea behind the film. But the execution of it is terrible. This to me, and from what I have seen in the general public, is not a film that screams classic, it is more of an abomination. The first time I saw this film I was angry. I sat in the theater and waited for something to happen. I waited for the pace to pick up. I waited for the script to get better. But nothing happened. I saw it second time out of morbid curiosity. You know, to see if now because I knew all of the secrets of the film, that maybe I would enjoy it a bit better and understand it a little more. Well the definitive answer to that theory was a resounding NO. I still hated it, only now I could understand why I hated it. Before it was like an annoying throbbing pain in my head, the second time, I felt like Malcolm MacDowell's character did when he was forced to watch all those disgusting movies/images on screen in A Clockwork Orange.

The worst thing about this film is the script. I have never seen the F-Word used so liberally and in places that it doesn't belong. And before you pidgeon-hole me and say that that is my problem right there, that I am opposed to profanity and "real" sounding dialogue, please bear in mind, I love Kevin Smith films, I loved Eddie Murphy's Delirious and I am not opposed to profanity as long as it has a place in the story and it makes sense. In here, it is overkill. There is one scene where Rose ( who is the cocained addicted daughter ) and her dad, Stanley, the gameshow host, are in the same room and her last few words to her dad are all F-words in some variation. Get the F out of here, F you, F you, F you, F you, F you, F you, what the F are you doing in my house, what the F do you want? etc. etc. The idea here is to show pain between the two. Well her screaming and swearing maybe once would have done it, but it is just overkill the way she carries on. People actually got up and left at this point in the film and this was what? maybe a half an hour into it?

Then there is the Linda and Earl characters ( Julianne Moore and Jason Robards ). I'll get to Robards after but first let's have some fun with Moore. Next to Linda, she is the most overacted character in the film and perhaps one of the most overacted characters that I have ever seen. Bette Midler bugs me sometimes with her overacting but she is Hepburn compared to what Moore does in here. Her favourite way to show emotion ( and she is as stable as a MAC Truck hanging over the edge of a cliff ) is to use the F-word as well. I don't even think she knows how to talk calmly in the film. Every scene she is in she is either crying, screaming, swearing or shaking. There is one particular scene in the pharmacy when she explodes at the pharmicist that is so poorly done, so embarrasing that I actually wanted to cringe in my seat. There is no substance to her, no reason, no rhyme. She is just a very, very bad person and one that we can't care about.

Then there is Donnie played by William H Macy. His character could have been completely eliminated and no one would have noticed. He is not necessary and I think he was in here simply so there could be some sort of gay theme in the film. And did you happen to see Tom Cruise's bulge in his underwear when he was undressing? It looked like he had boulders where his sack should have been ( hey someone had to say it ). Does P.T. Anderson have an obsession with the penis? Just a thought?

Okay, now to Cruise. He was good in a bad film. But all that was put to waste in his last scene with his father as he cries and tells him not to F***in die, you son of a bitch. Enough said about that.

Robards. He is a dying old man that is comatose most of the film. But then when he does wake up up long enough, what does he tell us? What great big secret does he tell us that is supposed to make us ooooh and aaaaaaaah? He cheated on his wife. Just like almost every other character, he cheated on his spouse. When this came out, I wanted to yell at the screen, BIG F****N DEAL!!! It was an old theme. There was no shock left now. After Stanley divulged that information and so did Linda and with Cruise's character being the way he was, it was just a nothing speech. But it was done with close ups as if he is cleansing his sould and awaiting a trip to heaven. What trash!! What utter trash.

Magnolia is a film that has nothing to say, has some of the worst performances of the year and absolutely some of the worst directing and editing. Just because you have Exodus 8:2 in your film and that is what your great finale is all about, does not mean that you have a great film. This is without a doubt, one of the dumbest films I have ever seen. And I really mean that. The praise that is being heaped on it is completely unjust. I would tell you to stay away from this film but in some strange way I want people to see it. For two reasons. One to show you how bad it really is and two, to show you that no matter how talentless you are, if you get really lucky then you can still get a screenplay produced. P.T Anderson has a really bad screenplay here and it worked for him. See how wonderfully twisted Hollywood is?

0 out of 10 In the trailer for the film, one of the final things you hear from the narrator is this " And somehow this will all make sense in the end." How I wish that were true.

An awful, awful film!

Didn't know you've been writing spoof reviews recently, Baumer.

Have you ever seen a movie that just amde you mad Doc? This is it for me.

Battlefield Earth, but obviously for good reasons. I understand if people dislike any movie, be it Star Wars or Schindler's List or LOTR or Magnolia, but isn't 0 out of 10 a wee bit too harsh?

Dude, you read the review? If you did, you'd see how vehemently I despised this film.

I did read it. A very funny review it is, I had to laugh out loud when you brought up Anderson's apparent obsession with the penis

I thought the acting by the ensemble was top-notch and the movie had a great score. The direction was decent, but I've seen better. I like the whole idea behind the film and I have to admit that during the entire 188 minutes I haven't been bored for a second.

Obviously you are not alone. Many many peoplee loved the film. I think i am in the minority on the opinion, but i just hated the film.

Saw this last night, and it made me understand one thing, exactly why Tom Cruise is a star. He was brilliant as the (it's your own fault if you highlight and get offended) Respect the cock and tame the cunt guru. :razz: All of the stories were pretty interesting, although I get the feeling William H. Macy's character was weird long before he was struck by lightning, but Cruise was definitely my favorite.

I just didn't get the symbolism of the downpour of frogs. Maybe if it was dogs and cats, but frogs? What the $#@% was that all about? I thought when I was told that it was "a bit froggy", that it was just one of her cute phrases that she uses, but it was literal.

B

From IMDB:

Exodus 8:2 reads: "And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs".

That was the only thing holding it back from being an A, but now that I know the deal, I can give it one. \:D/

I think the fact that it is an old and tired theme and something that every person in the film pretty much dealt with cuts to the heart of what the film is about, and the reason for the frogs.