Re: Magnolia, some thoughts
I watched this movie with great anticipation as Boogie Nights is one of my favorites, and I had heard good things. Except for the Tom Cruise character, which is absolutely incredible, none of the other stuff did anything for me. Jason Robards laying on his death bed saying, "the regret, the regret...". Come on, no one would actually say that. All the other little story lines just seemed like some contrived melodrama over nothing. I don't even remember much except some kid wetting his pants and another kid finding a gun. Somehow this movie even manages to make Phillip Seymour Hoffman boring, which I didn't think was possible.
But I realize the movie could have been a victim off too much buildup for me. Few movies can survive that dreaded fate. Also most people who saw the movie in the theater seemed to come away with a more positive take. I saw it at home. It could be one of those movies that just doesn't pull you in w/o the help of the big screen. But like I said, I still think it's almost worth seeing for "Respect the [censored]!" alone.
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