A very powerful and extremely underrated drama.

Magnolia didn't really satisfy me when I first saw it but after rewatching it, I loved it! It is a very dark, thought-provoking film that keeps you glued to your TV and chair all the way through the film. It is a film set in one day and I love films like that anyway! I think the main thing I loved about Magnolia is that I saw men and women in almost all categories of struggles in life. Every storyline has its powerful climax where almost all of them join together.


There are a lot of incredibly talented actors in this film! The cast includes John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Jeremy Blackman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters, Philip Baker Hall, Jason Robards, Felicity Huffman and Alfred Molina. The best performance of the film is definitely Tom Cruise who portrays Frank T.J. Mackey. Frank is a man who is like a guide for men to "tame" women. I'm not really a big fan of Tom Cruise but his performance in this one absolutely blew my mind! I mean, Cruise was probably the best choice because Frank is a slimy character and he's good at playing characters like that but also he surprisingly shows a very heartfelt emotional side to the character. After Cruise, the best performance, in my opinion, was from Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge. Linda is a woman who is trying to deal with her much older husband Earl Partridge's teriminal illness and feeling guilty of adultery. She is also Frank T.J. Mackey's stepmother. Magnolia is up there with The Godfather, Gone With The Wind, Closer, The Dark Knight, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and A Fish Called Wanda on the list of best performances from the entire cast.


Paul Thomas Anderson is a director of creating dark films in the modern world. He gave us Boogie Nights and most recently gave us There Will Be Blood. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how one man can write a script for a film that is over 3 hours long. I mean, that is talent!! He has a great gift as a great director and screenwriter. I just wish he would make more films. The script is a bit like a Quentin Tarantino sort of script but a bit darker. I think the Tarantino film script I would compare with the Magnolia script is Inglourious Basterds. Magnolia earned only 3 Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Tom Cruise), Best Original Song ("Save Me") and Best Original Screenplay but didn't win any of them. However, Tom Cruise did win the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in 1999.


Overall, Magnolia is a fantastic, extremely underrated and dark drama with a great ensemble cast! Anderson is a genius!

9/10