Andrew-162

This movie practically rivals Holy Grail for funniest movie of all time. Besides the dirty fork sketch and Gilliam's not-always-great animation, every part of the movie is a true masterpiece. A great introduction to Python.

OK, before I start listing all the good things about the movie Magnolia, and believe me, there are many, I will list the things that are potentially bad about the movie, and get them out of the way. It's often self-indulgent and self-important. It contains one too many confessions of spousal cheating. It can be argued that the movie gets downright cheesy at some times--like when they all start singing the soundtrack song "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann, and maybe there are some aspects of the plot (the prophetic kid rapper, just what DOES William H. Macy do for a living?) go unexplained or unjustified, and you either will love or hate the finale. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'd like to say that Magnolia is one of the most moving movies of all time. There is a quiet yearning always apparent in the movie--some people say it is a movie about misery, but I don't believe it's quite that--I think it's a movie about wasted lives, the lives of people who just need to get over their sense of regret before they can make something of their lives. More than one character says in the movie "we may be through with the past, but the past isn't through with us," and for almost every character in the movie it is a definitive quote. Here is the plotline in as few words and most connections as possible. Earl (Jason Robards) is a dying TV producer, cared for by a male nurse (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Earl left his wife years ago when she developed cancer for the younger Linda (Julianne Moore), leaving his son Frank (Tom Cruise) to look after his mother, and Frank became an on-TV sex guru, preaching his "seduce and destroy" method to millions of followers. Produced by Earl is the TV show "What Do Kids Know," a show whose returning champion is the young boy Stanley (Jeremy Blackman), a boy who is sick of being looked upon as a freak and sick of his father (Michael Bowen) and the pressure he puts upon him. Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) was the champ on the show about 30 years ago, but is now a grown-up failure who resorts to robbing his own store when things get rough. The host of the show is Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall), who is also dying and wants his beloved wife Rose (Melinda Dillon) and abused, drug-addicted daughter Cluadia (Melora Walters) to forgive him before he dies. Neither of them seem to, especially Claudia, who seems to now be leading a sleazy lifestyle of drugs and sex until she is visited by good-hearted, religious policeman Jim (John C. Reily), who instantly falls for her, and just could be the source of her redemption. If it sounds like a lot to take in, remember the movie's 3-hour running length. For a movie that is 3 hours long, though, it flies instantly by. Several people on this site were complaining of it being sooo lonnnngggg, but I was constantly glancing at my watch, and hoping that I still had a good amount of time before the movie was over--much like the 1993 ensemble piece "Short Cuts," I didn't want it to end, I wanted to learn more about these characters, I wanted them to find happiness. Quite needless to say, the performances across the board are quite excellent. Though Jason Robards and Phillip Baker Hall might not get much of a chance to act through their confessional time, they get the job done. Julianne Moore and Melinda Dillon are pretty good as their wives. But the performances only get better from there. As the two quiz champions, Jeremy Blackman is truly wonderful and William H. Macy is at his nervous best. But then we get to the three performances that make this one of the best ensemble casts since "Pulp Fiction". Melora Waters's absolutely heartbreaking performance as the doomed Claudia is one the viewer is not likely to forget. Tom Cruise does maybe his best dramatic work so far here--when he is on stage, he's on fire, and could easily be a preacher preaching his religion, and to some extent, he is, but his too best moments come when he tells the reporter that's interviewing him "I'm quietly judging you," and when he half laughs/breaks down at his dying father's bedside, truly a matured performance that the star of "Cocktail" could not have given. But the performance to watch here is John C. Reily's, as the centerpiece of the movie, the voice of reason, the voice of goodness among the disappointment, the do-gooder cop who just wants to help people. Maybe less showy than Cruise's role, but just as emotionally powerful. He pulls it off with such a sense of reality that we pray for his safety and pray for his happiness. It is brilliantly directed by P.T. Anderson. Often compared to one of Altman's multi-charactered mosaics, Anderson's technique could not really be much more different. Altman's direction always gave his character pieces a sort of distanced, alienated feel, but Anderson's here is very intimate. Characters are given slow close-ups, or are slowly followed as they move, or sometimes when you see two characters talking, you will only actually see one of the characters and try to guess what they are thinking. The story is well written and the stories all well connected, and the ending...well, as I said, you either love it or hate it. I loved it. If you asked me to explain the meaning of it, whether it was a biblical metaphor, or a chance for self-reflection for the characters, or what, I could not tell you. But it hit an appropriate emotional nerve for the time, and in the cold world of 90's movies, why not? Maybe it was a plot device, but if so, a very, very powerful one. And the music, let's not forget Aimee Mann (who'da thunk it? The lead singer of the 80's onehitwonder band 'Til Tuesday comes back out to write the most appropriate soundtrack to a movie since The Graduate?) and her hauntingly correct songs. "Save Me" is one of the true highlights of the movie--an aching, desperate cry for what everyone in the movie seems to be searching for.

See Magnolia. If you were more bored than I was, I'm sorry. You're missing an experience unlike really any other.

In 1994 The Hudsucker Proxy was released to indifferent reviews and failed box-office. It failed to get a single oscar nomination. After watching it several years ago, and again tonight, I can only come up with one question: Why? Everything in this movie clicks like the huge clock that towers over NYC from the Hudsucker building. Tim Robbins has rarely been better and provides a worthy successor to the clueless but ultimately endearing Capra heroes of the 30's, like Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart. Jennifer Jason Leigh, who has been so good in many movies, provides a winning cross between the professionalism of Rosalind Russel's character in His Girl Friday and the archetypal Katherine Hepburn character (she even gets the voice right!). Paul Newman makes an ideal villain, and Charles Durning has a memorable cameo. The cast is not even the best part. The movie is visually stunning (where were the cinematography and art direction oscars on this one?) and adds all the more to the storyline. The direction flawlessly invokes the madcap comedies of the 30's with a plot that is heavily influenced by Sturges and Capra but has some now-typical Coen twists in it as well. However, the best part is the screenplay. A true american original, it exceeds especially with the hula-hoop plotline. This movie flopped in' 94, but hey--so did Vertigo in '58 and The Magnificent Ambersons in '42. Some genius takes time to be appreciated--lets hope time appreciates this true Coen masterpiece. Makes a good double bill with the similarly screwball but more over-the-top Raising Arizona