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Reviews
Magnolia (1999)
Ambitious movie that falls a bit short
I've seen many comments on this movie(recently seen on IFC)that range from "best movie ever" to brutal slating, that it's boring, pointless, etc. Well, I find that the film is between both of these extremes. It does a good job of conveying the grief of losing a loved one to disease or illness(having dealt with a cancer victim, and my grandmother's death due to a stroke, that emotion was spot on). The character tie-ins work very well, and do a good job of keeping things moving. Problem is, that I ended up not caring a whit about all of them, with the exception of the John C. Reilly/Malora Walters relationship; their awkward nature I found compelling. And the overuse of the F-word for dramatic effect was simply boring, and added nothing to the film. Other pointless elements included, but not limited to: gratuitous frog suicide, that stupid, completely unbelievable Julianna Moore scene in the drugstore(no pharmacist would act like that, I have to obtain many prescriptions and I get no looks nor frantic calls on the phone), Julianna Moore's OTT "acting": I don't believe for a moment, that some trophy wife screwing around on a husband that she married for $$ would suddenly get a "change of heart" and love him cuz he's dying(incessant crying and dropping F-bomb's ain't grief), the black rapper who I couldn't understand a word he was saying, that insipid, Aimee Mann soundtrack, and having all the characters at the same time sing her song at the same time was a throwaway element that made no sense. These rather pointless elements harmed what could've been a great film, as well as the inability for Anderson to bring all of these separate stories together, in the way that Altman did in SHORT CUTS and NASHVILLE.
Full marks for Tom Cruise as the misogynistic motivational speaker, one of his best performances, ditto for John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Phillip Baker Hall, Bill Macy, Luis Guzman(any movie that includes this
character actor get props), Henry Gibson, good cinematography.
In the final analysis, this could've been better if Anderson would've reigned in his overindulgent script, had better dialogue, didn't overuse stedi-cams, eschewed the frogs and had an ending that made sense. Themes such as redemption and coinncedence(I submit the words of my mother, who states "Your mother doesn't believe in coincidences.")have been handled better by more accomplished directors. So, I give it 5/10 - not terrible, but not a great film that I could recommend.
Trial by Jury (1994)
Overdone courtroom drama with a boilerplate mobster twist
A antique shop-owner in NYC, played by Joanne Whalley(Valerie Alston)gets put on a US District Court jury, on a trial of a known Mafioso Armand Asante(Rusty Pirone), and most of this very slow-paced film revolves around attempts of Pirone attempting to get Whalley to acquit him of murder, by threatening to kill her son, and herself. Much action ensues, involving gruesome mob-rub outs, interspread with Willam Hurt as the go-between. Much of this silly, disjointed mess surrounds Hurt and Asante's obsession with Whalley, courtroom scenes that we've all seen time and again, and an ending that is unbelievable. 3/10 is probably going easy on this waste of time.