Magnolia

Zatoichi's Review

This ensemble production weaves through the lives of nine characters telling a collection of stories set in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley on a day where circumstance and fate brings great changes to their lives. The story is reminiscent of a Robert Altman film with a wide scope and a strong ensemble cast.

I went to see this because there is talk of Academy Award nominations for this movie. Well, I don't know who started those nasty rumors! This is certainly one of Tom Cruise's better performances, and Jason Robards also turned in an excellent portrayal of a dying man. Good performances from Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeremy Blackman added to the pleasure of watching.

I had problems with the film from the start; it seemed too staged and the dialog was very unnatural. As the story developed, the great acting and quirky structure of the film won me over. Temporarily. Once the movie started to grope blindly for a conclusion, the director lost me.

I always go to the movies wanting to like what I am about to see. My point is that I am willing to give filmmakers a huge benefit of the doubt. This one stretched beyond my good graces, and it wasn't even necessary to do that, because I was engaged in the movie until the big money shot. The movie seemed to be an attempt to tie together by "coincidence" the odd events and circumstances in people's lives, and failed because of an entirely implausible occurrence.

I was happy watching these interesting and extraordinary people and how their lives intertwined or didn't. The movie was long but I was entertained and engaged up until the big money shot. Sorry, that part of the movie came close to ruining the whole thing for me.

The central point of the story, about arbitrary things happening to change the course of history, could have easily been made in a believable way, the same way the movie opened with the list of coincidental occurrences. After money shot, the movie just seemed to ramble. There were a couple of points when I thought we were at the end of the movie but weren't. Finally it was time to roll the credits.

I have heard this film described as "ambitious" and I agree with that. It came close to saying something. Too bad it got mucked up in the story and missed the mark. The whole is less than the sum of the parts, in this case.

Bang for the Buck: Go to the half-price matinee
Movie Mood: Strange movie
Recommends to friends? No
HSX Recommendation: Short at the current price ($17.90 on Jan 25).

Zatoichi January 25^th, 2000