Magnolia is a masterpiece of tone, filmmaking craft and moral observation offering up the despicable and redeemable in equal measure. It does this with a narrative full of extremes, people on the edge, desperation, and yet time after time it strips away their existential howling revealing what is really underneath. Encountering the films characters is like encountering an old enemy. Is he beaten down and repentant leaving us moved to extend compassion and forgiveness? When Magnolia does judge its characters it's a terrifying spectacle and you don't have a shred of doubt they deserve it. Starring Tom Cruise, the late great Jason Robards, William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Ricky Jay, Alfred Molina and John C. Reilly, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia is a film that will be watched as long as people watch film.
This Bluray edition is easily the best I've ever seen this film look in a home viewing format. Special Features are sparse in terms of anything that actually examines the film or its themes but they do include the Magnolia Video Diary which functions as a sort of shooting log, a seminar from character T.J. Mackey: Seduce and Destory, a Seduce and Destroy infomercial, the Aimee Mann Save Me music video and assorted trailers and TV Spots. Missing is the DVD edition Easter Egg of outtakes. Also missing in this reviewers opinion are any new features. This film deserves a little bit better even if this version of it is the one to get.
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