This film is about as close to perfection as cinema can get. There are images in this film that are unforgettable, and this is a film more thoughtful and more powerful than any film released in quite a while, and it's clearly deserving of the title of Best Film of 1999.
A very close number two, Paul Thomas Anderson directed one of the most astonishing, cutting edge, and deeply felt films of recent times. Anderson, still a very young director, has already made a distinct mark on cinema history with two powerful films, his 1997 success Boogie Nights, and now this, Magnolia, a film which assures Anderson's place as perhaps the next Martin Scorsese or Robert Altman, and it makes one excited for the future of cinema.
While Boogie Nights seemed in the style of Scorsese, Magnolia is a film very much in the style of director Robert Altman, and his films Nashville and Short Cuts, but it is still incredibly unique on its own. The film is excessive and expansive, over three hours in length, and yet does not feel like three hours.
Like American Beauty, this film is also a triumph for acting, as the film is more about the characters than any kind of plot. In fact, Magnolia does not really have a plot. Instead, it interweaves the story of a variety of different characters all during one day. The film is surprising and brilliant all the way through, with moments of surprise followed by moments of sheer filmmaking genius.
The movie begins unexpectedly also, as a narrator talks about all kinds of bizarre incidents that happen, and ponders whether life is mere coincidence or that these things happen for some kind of reason. It's very important that the viewer keeps that theme in mind throughout the viewing of the film, as it will obviously affect their reaction to what unfolds.
From there, the interweaving stories begin, and the stories are so wonderfully crafted and edited by Anderson. Even more than some of Altman's achievements, these particular characters are much more interweaved into each other, and have much closer binds and relationships.
In this expansive story, some are approaching death and reflecting on the sins of their past -- Jason Robards and Philip Baker Hall give extraordinary performances as men facing the end of their lives, and trying to deal with the things they did wrong.
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