Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999) Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, Miriam Margolyes
I had another look at the beginning of this as I have just seen The Master (2012) and because Anderson said at the time that Magnolia was his best film ever.
After the opening lecture-with-lantern-slides on the topic of coincidence—obviously an attempt to excuse the many coincidences to come—the film begins with a horrible popular song under some titles. This does not, however, fade out when the opening sequence gets going, but continues for just under thirteen minutes, during which it is loud enough to make it difficult if not impossible to hear the dialogue. This is extremely irritating.
I suppose Anderson’s intention is to intrigue auds and to create initial interest in the many story strands of his film—but for this viewer: if he thinks so little of his dialogue that he doesn’t care whether I can hear it or not, then I’m not going to listen any longer.
IMDb page for P.T. Anderson.
Wikipedia page for Anderson.
IMDb page for Magnolia.
Wikipedia page for Magnolia.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 1 March, 2017 | Now: 21 February, 2022