`Magnolia' Blossoms for Some Critics but May Wilt for the Average Moviegoer by Homer Yen (c) 2000
Have you ever watched an advertisement on late night TV, perhaps an infomercial, and wondered how those guys could actually be the dynamos that they seem to be. I remember the incredulous pitches for how to make millions in real estate. The speaker would say how he was once a penniless immigrant but now had amassed a fortune. With an ounce of ambition and his tutelage, you too could earn enough to purchase oceanfront property, a yacht, and a slew of exotic cars.
In `Magnolia,' there is another such dynamo named Frank Mackey (Tom Cruise). With his high-powered charisma, his ads boast that he can win over the hearts of any woman. And, if you come to his seminar, he'll teach you all of his secrets. Just call 1-877-TAME HER and he'll show you all of his tricks including how to feign sincerity and how to make her fulfill your every desire. This is truly a person that has feigned much like the once-penniless-immigrant-turned real-estate-mogul. The life that he has created is a manifestation of terrific imagination. He has worked hard to develop an identity for others to see. He says the right things, wears the right clothes, and talks to the right people. But his whole life is nothing but a fragile foundation of vanity and buried secrets. Unlock those secrets, and his foundation crumbles. What would make Frank's foundation crumble? Perhaps it will be an inquisitive reporter. Or, it may be confronting a father that had abandoned him but now lies on his deathbed. Neither Frank nor anyone else can ever be prepared for such a jolt.
Frank's is one of many stories that are happening simultaneously in the world of `Magnolia.' Several interlocking vignettes are at play, and all of them are variations on a theme. Julianne Moore plays a neurotic and faithless wife. Veteran game show host Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall) has just learned that he is suffering from cancer and doesn't have long to live. An overeager father (Michael Bowen) maddeningly drives his son to excel. Former whiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) is a pathetic loser who thinks that braces will help him secure the love of a muscular bartender. And there's also a caring officer (John C. Reilly) who falls in love with a drug addict. Foundation shaking events will occur for all of the characters.
Structurally, this is a very good film. Despite it being a film where many of the characters are related by coincidence, the film does an excellent job making sure that all of the various story lines are working in unison. In fact, the middle hour showcases some of this year's most energetic and extroverted acting scenes, especially Cruise as the cocksure sex guru and Moore as the unstable housewife. And this why critics will rally around this kind of film. It's certainly ambitious work and worthy of a nomination for Director Paul Thomas Anderson.
However, my job is not to extol its production values (which it has plenty of), but to let you know whether this is a film that most of us would find entertaining. And to that, I would have to say ‘no'. This is an Oscar-seeking melodrama, filled with emotion, deathbed scenes and turbulence. These threads also converge in a way that I could not understand, and should you wish to see this film, I will have to let you draw your own conclusions. As for my own opinion, this is a 3-hour film that is recommended to only the most avid moviegoers who like their films to be a bravura combination of absurdity, innovation and chance. That's not me.
Grade: C+
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