There's an old philosophy or dogma regarding art - they say the true sign of a masterpiece is if every time you experience that piece of art you notice something you didn't catch in previous exposure. Magnolia is one such piece of art. As I pulled it off the shelf or in this case brought it up on my HD streamer last night, I marveled once again at meanings and messages springing from its well of salvation and redemption.
These are no ordinary disparate characters. The ten main characters that make up this film are literally a kaleidoscope of life itself and all the emotions associated as we all try and figure out this journey.
And the performances, too many to list, they all kick ass here. I keep telling people Tom Cruise is always his best at badass roles, this one's a classic example and he deserved every accolade he got for this performance. Julianne Moore, omg. An actress I already adore in a hilariously over-the-top but spot on at the same time performance. There's one here that particularly stood out to me last night and that was Melora Walters, just spellbinding as the cokehead and has John C Reilly ever been better? His turn as the conscientious but slightly aloof LAPD cop here is awesome.
Can you believe people were walking out of movie theaters when this came out? I guess it takes a certain palate and mood to approach, as Frank Zappa once said, it's 'statistical density." I'm more than happy to keep pulling this one off the shelf, oh excuse me, stream it, for many more times to come.
For the next 26 days, Magnolia streams free on Pluto. 5 stars/5
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