Boosted by great performances from its ensemble cast, Magnolia ultimately suffers due to its conspicuous manipulative methods. As the film takes us through a day in a wide variety of characters' lives, the main soundtrack music makes a sudden appearance 1/3 through the film and carries an emotionally powerful crescendo for nearly an hour. Then, it fades away just as quickly as it'd begun, giving full control to the direction to tie up the final knots. It then makes a less prominent return and accompanies the final scenes in what I deem a most unsatisfying finale.
Tom Cruise does a fantastic job as Frank "Respect The Cock" T.J. Mackey, a sort of infomercial guru who gives advice to guys on how to get and control a woman. I may not like Cruise's public image, but the critics he receives for his acting are invalid at best. Have people not seen him in Eyes Wide Shut? Collateral? The man can act. And here he gives probably one of the best performances of his career as a man trying to hide his past and the pain attached to it. He's very nuanced. The scene where he finally confronts his father is cinematic gold. Julia Moore is also amazing as a drug-addicted trophy wife. Her scene in the pharmacy is not only painful to watch, but also friggin' hilarious. I could continue singling out every performance, but that would be excessive. There's so many characters in this film and everybody does an amazing job. My favorites besides the two above are: William H. Macy, John C. Reilly and Melora Walters. I figured those three were also worthy of being mentioned.
Magnolia is a good film, but not one that will receive multiple rewatches from me. Perhaps it's because it's too self-aware and realizes that its audience might not be. It's just too manipulative, ok! Either way, it's still a good film elevated by the beauty of its cinematography, a wonderful soundtrack and some amazing performances.
Ludovico Rating