Before today, I had seen this film only once, in a cinema when it was released. Over the past fifteen years, I seem to have developed very fond recollections of what was in it--so much so that I rented the film to watch again today. I wanted to enjoy again what I recalled was a terrific film.
And then I saw my original IMDb rating: 5/10. What was I thinking back then? I believe that there is so very much in this film, that it is nearly impossible to fully appreciate the film in a single viewing. There are so many ideas in the film that provoke further thought. I think this film was so far advanced from the usual mainstream movie that the traditional process of a viewer finding things in the film to relate to his or her "real life" was reversed: since first seeing the film, I have found so many things in my own life that I can relate to the events in Magnolia.
The Oscar nominations: Tom Cruise, screenplay, song. Won zero Oscars. I can't explain that. Except to say that in 1999, I was wrong to rate the film only as 5/10. I can only assume that the Academy was equally mistaken.
And then I saw my original IMDb rating: 5/10. What was I thinking back then? I believe that there is so very much in this film, that it is nearly impossible to fully appreciate the film in a single viewing. There are so many ideas in the film that provoke further thought. I think this film was so far advanced from the usual mainstream movie that the traditional process of a viewer finding things in the film to relate to his or her "real life" was reversed: since first seeing the film, I have found so many things in my own life that I can relate to the events in Magnolia.
The Oscar nominations: Tom Cruise, screenplay, song. Won zero Oscars. I can't explain that. Except to say that in 1999, I was wrong to rate the film only as 5/10. I can only assume that the Academy was equally mistaken.