Magnolia

" In this big game that we play, life , its not what you hoped for , it's not what you deserve, it's what you get. "  Look  carefully at Tom Cruise's opening  lines in P.T  Anderson's  sprawling epic , and you will uncover the whole idea of Magnolia. The characters in Anderson's world aren't happy people, they didn't ask for what they got in this world, but as the famous  saying  goes  " That's life… " Magnolia  is  an  astounding, risk-taking film, a type  rarely seen since the heyday of  movies, the 70's. It  isn't perfect, it  has flaws and it isn't the greatest film ever made. What it is can only be described is an experience, one that blows the cobwebs from Hollywood's  corners and actually shows that there are still people out there who want to make movie's like this, as opposed to the spate after spate of awful big-budget films in recent years. Set  in the  San  Fernando valley, Magnolia   tells the story of a cop, a male guru, a boy genius, an ex-boy  genius, a male nurse , a dying quiz show host  and  a dying father, whose  lives intertwine through one amazing happening. The  first  thing to be admired here is way Anderson  brilliantly  uses his cast, with more than seven principle characters he juggles and  weaves  his  scenes beautifully, never letting the audience forget a certain character.  The  opening to the film is one of the most superbly created prologues that I have ever seen. We  are  told  of strange coincidences and happenings in the past, which the narrator believes are things that don't " just happen ". From here we move to the San Fernando valley  and  given a brief  introduction to each character, establishing their persona. We  see  Cruise's  sleazy male sex guru, a mistreated boy genius  and  a  pathetic ex wonder kid  getting  oral  surgery. Anderson establishes the  characters  immediately, and  Magnolia  is  gripping  from  the outset. Each  of the characters  have  one  thing in common, their shady pasts, and the young boy realises that he is headed down the same  road as the others. The adulterous Quiz Show  host Jimmy Gator epitomises the characters feeling  about their pasts  by saying " We  may be through  with  the past, but the past ain't though with us . "  Magnolia  really  is  a  film  to  be interpreted  in  different ways  by different  people. Although  a  seemingly  pessimistic  film  throughout, there really  is a  hopeful  thought  to  be taken, seeing Cruise's character  walking into  a  hospital to visit his father's wife, something which  seemed  so  unlikely in the beginning. Ultimately, it is a film about life, family and friendship. See how  , on the news of his estranged father on his deathbed, Cruise's character  has  a  breakdown while lecturing a group of  macho-males  on how to lure women. Throughout the movie it is quite evident that Cruise hates his father, yet he breaks down in front of him. One  minute he's  telling  his audience  to " respect the c**k " and the next he's kicking a chair over in frustration, perhaps in frustration  at  himself for caring about his estranged dad. Magnolia is full of moments like this, powerfully  portraying the rifts that tear people apart  and  the  situations  that  bring  people  together. P.T  Anderson  must  now  be  considered one of America's finest  directors, his  camera  work  is  breathtaking, full  of confidence, elegance  and sweeping  epic shots, much like  a  young  Martin  Scorsese. One  sequence  in  particular took  my  breath away, where the camera veers at sharp turns to display each character in one moment, showing each of them in some pose of  desperation, putting  them  all under one emotional roof. Magnolia  is  directed like an epic, and Anderson  clearly has the  touch  for  capturing  character  emotions, wonderfully  judging when to use fast  zooms  and close-ups. The  performances in  the  movie, apart from an over the top Julianne Moore, are  nothing  short  of amazing. Tom Cruise  totally  re-invents  himself  from his usual  pretty-boy  persona, with a fantastic performance that should have won him an Oscar.  Phillip Seymour  Hoffman, an actor I had not seen much previously, astounded  me with his  superb turn  as  the  sensitive  nice-guy  male  nurse  Phil  Parma. By  far  the  most  likeable  character  in  the  film, he  gave  the  finest  performance  in  my  opinion  , not  to  take  away  from the other amazing  performances  from  the late, great  Jason  Robards , William Macy , John C.  Reilly  and  others. Some  people  have  criticised   Magnolia  being  too  self  conscious, but  it  was  one  of  my  favourite aspects of the film. To have a moment where a central character liken's  a  situation  to  a  scene in a movie  takes a lot of guts, but it works perfectly. The much debated ending  is  something that will  be  debated for years, but my take on it was just that it matched the surreal  situations  each  character was in, and for one time put them all in one same situation, an umbrella  for  their emotions. Magnolia, although few , has  it's  flaws. At  3 hrs. 9 minutes  it  loses  momentum quite a bit in the last hour, including an extremely over-long scene  with a  Jason Robards  voice  over. The  movie  rambles  slightly before the ver end, when it would have been more satisfying to go for a quick, more  subtle  ending. However, Magnolia  sustains  focus  a  lot  better than  many three  hour  movies that I have seen. Overall, Magnolia  is  a  terrific  ensemble  piece full of vigour , humour and emotion with superb direction, that has  given  me  the idea to remember  that anytime you're  in trouble, other's are in your situation, sharing a similar  plight. Maybe someday, like the residents of the San Fernando Valley, we'll  have to endure a torrent from the skies.