--- title: "Magnolia" year: 1999 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/magnolia" fi1m_id: "magnolia" imdb_id: "tt0175880" tmdb_id: 334 wikidata_id: "Q588420" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 20 published: "2026-09-14" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:50.207672+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Magnolia (1999) Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson · 3h 09m · MPA R · Drama ## Identity Magnolia - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/magnolia - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** magnolia - **IMDb ID:** tt0175880 - **TMDB ID:** 334 - **Wikidata ID:** Q588420 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0175880/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/334, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q588420 **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 81 from 20 reviews *In a sentence:* Tom Cruise is selling confidence, and nobody else in Los Angeles seems to have any > Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling drama is moving, superbly acted and occasionally exhausting. We recommend it for the people it makes us care about, with a warning that 189 minutes of distress can leave little room to breathe. ## Synopsis In Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, several people’s lives intersect as they struggle with love, loss and regret. Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise) leads motivational seminars built on contempt for women. Elsewhere, the stories take in Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), Claudia Wilson Gator (Melora Walters), Linda Partridge (Julianne Moore) and Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall). William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jason Robards also appear in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble drama. Its characters face their own distress while the film follows the connections and coincidences that bring their experiences together. ## Review *Magnolia* is worth its 189 minutes, though we would not pretend they pass lightly. Paul Thomas Anderson writes and directs an ensemble drama about people across Los Angeles struggling with loss, regret and one another. The scale is part of the pleasure: someone who initially seems peripheral can become the person we most need to hear from. Anderson gives this cast time to make that change in our attention feel earned. Tom Cruise’s Frank T.J. Mackey, a motivational speaker peddling contempt for women, is the most immediately gripping presence. Cruise gives his pronouncements the assurance of a man who expects applause, and that assurance makes him dangerous. We were repelled by the seminar, particularly by how entertaining Cruise makes the contempt. Anderson gives him enough space to be objectionable without reducing him to a convenient villain. Cruise deserves the attention, although the film has other performances worth watching just as closely. John C. Reilly’s Officer Jim Kurring and Melora Walters’s Claudia Wilson Gator give us people whose uncertainty is easier to recognise than Mackey’s swagger. Reilly is particularly valuable in a film so full of actors being asked to express pain at full volume; his presence gives us a chance to listen without bracing ourselves. Walters makes Claudia’s distress difficult to dismiss as another helping of misery. We care about these people, which is why the repeated crises can become tiring. Robert Elswit’s fluid camerawork helps us follow the large cast without making every arrival feel like another introduction. It also gives long passages an urgency that survives the switches between stories. Editor Dylan Tichenor keeps those stories pressing on our attention, and his cutting makes a substantial contribution to the film’s grip. The problem comes when distress follows distress: a change of character cannot always make another breakdown feel different. Jon Brion’s music reinforces the pressure, sometimes more than the acting needs. We wanted a little less help feeling the weight of these encounters; the cast is already doing enough. The production design by Mark Bridges and William Arnold is less demanding of our attention, and usefully so. Their settings let us concentrate on the people rather than search the rooms for explanations of them, a welcome restraint in such an insistent film. Anderson’s writing is less disciplined than his staging. He can make several characters voice their unhappiness so insistently that we start noticing the repetition before we notice what distinguishes them. Ensemble dramas ask us to keep a great deal in mind, and *Magnolia* occasionally behaves as though letting a feeling subside would mean losing us altogether. Anderson could afford to leave more of the work to his actors, particularly when their expressions already tell us enough. We recommend watching it in one sitting, with enough patience to let the less immediately arresting people become important. There is plenty here to reward that patience, especially for anyone who enjoys following a large cast through separate stories. Just choose an evening when there is room for somebody else’s unhappiness. *Fi1m score 84, published 14 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics admire Magnolia: eighteen of twenty reviews are positive and none is hostile. The word that recurs is ambition. Reviewers describe a sprawling ensemble drama of lonely lives in the San Fernando Valley, built in the manner of Robert Altman, and most think the gamble pays off. The acting is the department almost everyone singles out, and Tom Cruise’s misogynist self-help guru is the performance named most often, with John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Jason Robards and Philip Seymour Hoffman also mentioned. The frog rain is widely read as the film’s daring high point. The reservations cluster around length and control. Several critics call the three hours exhausting, self-indulgent or repetitive, and a few feel the parts outweigh the whole. The New York Times and The New Yorker are the most doubtful, finding the late reach for larger meaning arbitrary and the sum not quite adding up. The spread is fairly narrow, though: even the mixed reviews recommend the performances. ## Straight answers **Is Magnolia worth watching?** *Magnolia* is worth watching for anyone with the patience for a 189-minute ensemble drama about people in distress, and we scored it 84. Tom Cruise's motivational speaker is the most gripping presence, but John C. Reilly and Melora Walters give it the people we come to care about. Choose an evening when you have room for somebody else's unhappiness. **How long is Magnolia, and what is it rated?** *Magnolia* runs 3h 09m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch Magnolia in the US?** *Magnolia* is streaming on HBO Max, Hulu, The Roku Channel and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Magnolia, and is it suitable for children?** *Magnolia* carries a UK 18 certificate and is not suitable for children. Its difficulty is emotional rather than violent or frightening: the film runs on repeated breakdowns, grief and regret, and Tom Cruise's seminar peddles a contempt for women we found repellent. The squeamish will be fine, but anyone wanting a light evening should look elsewhere. **How does Magnolia compare to Short Cuts?** *Magnolia* is the more insistent of the two Los Angeles ensembles, while [*Short Cuts*](https://film.one/film/short-cuts) has more dry humour and is quicker to judge its characters. Both are long, and both are carried by their casts. We would send viewers who want to be moved to Anderson's film, and those who prefer to be amused to Altman's. **What should I watch after Magnolia?** After *Magnolia*, try [*Short Cuts*](https://film.one/film/short-cuts) (1993, Fi1m 84): Another Los Angeles ensemble, with more dry humour and less insistence. Then [*Yi Yi*](https://film.one/film/yi-yi) (2000, Fi1m 92): Family troubles observed with patience, and room for people to surprise us; and [*Amores perros*](https://film.one/film/amores-perros) (2000, Fi1m 85): Interconnected lives and painful consequences, told with a rougher physical urgency. ### Reviews we read (20) - **Radio Times**, Jason Caro (5/5): The critic hails it as a dark, daring and dazzling epic with a superb cast, particularly Tom Cruise, and unpredictable scenarios that command attention despite the indulgent runtime. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-joe8ej/magnolia/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (4/4): The critic praises the film's deep exploration of childhood cruelty's lasting effects and its wise, sympathetic portrayal of flawed characters seeking connection and redemption. He highlights the ensemble performances and the philosophical use of coincidence and the frog-rain sequence as elevating the story beyond melodrama. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-magnolia-1999) - **Little White Lies**, Emily Cashen (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Magnolia as a cathartic masterpiece that explores unresolved trauma and the joys of acceptance and letting go, singling out the climactic frog rain as the most purely cathartic moment in cinema history. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/magnolia-paul-thomas-anderson-cathartic-masterpiece) - **Total Film** (90/100, inferred): Magnolia is a compelling, multi-faceted drama that refreshes the ensemble-interconnected-stories format with character revelations, script surprises and strong performances across the board. Tom Cruise delivers a standout electric performance as the misogynistic TJ, making the three-hour runtime worthwhile despite minor sags. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/magnolia-review/) - **Variety**, Emanuel Levy (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the ambitious scope, grand operatic style, and superlative ensemble that confirm Anderson as one of Hollywood's most audacious filmmakers, highlighting the film's meditation on fate, coincidence, and interconnection. [Read](https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/magnolia-3-1200460064/) - **Sight and Sound**, Leslie Dick (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's ambitious, sprawling structure that interweaves multiple stories and characters across the San Fernando Valley, highlighting its anti-realist elements and strong performances, especially Tom Cruise's. It is seen as a gamble that pays off through its intensity, cinematography, and nerve, despite its length. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/434) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Anderson for establishing himself as one of the most exciting directors with this anthology of broken lives that builds to a spectacular biblical finale. They single out Tom Cruise's standout performance as the misogynist motivational speaker Frank Mackey and the film's dark poetry of regret. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/mar/17/culture.reviews) - **Time Out**, GA (75/100, inferred): The review calls the film over-ambitious, self-indulgent and clumsy yet one of the most enthralling American movies in ages, noting its multi-story structure in the style of Altman films and its dark portrait of loss and fear, culminating in a bold, imaginative deus ex machina. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/magnolia) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (70/100, inferred): The film is a sprawling, Altman-inspired ensemble drama about interconnected characters in Los Angeles dealing with love, death and desperation. It features standout performances, particularly Tom Cruise's career-best turn as a misogynistic seminar leader, along with strong work from John C. Reilly and Melora Walters, though the structure sometimes feels repetitive. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/magnolia-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (70/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a frantic, flawed, fascinating film drunk on the joy of making movies, praising its ambition, energy, panache, and fine acting while noting it is not completely successful and can be exhausting. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-17-ca-44701-story.html) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (70/100, inferred): The review finds the film brilliantly orchestrated in its intersecting stories and strong acting, especially Tom Cruise's surprising turn, but criticizes its later descent into arbitrary and desperate attempts at larger meaning, including the frog plague and sing-along. It ultimately calls it too good to miss for its performances and vignettes despite self-destructive tendencies. [Read](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/121799magnolia-film-review.html) - **The Times** (70/100, inferred): The review frames the film as an epic about lost souls in LA, highlighting Tom Cruise's role as a professional pick-up artist whose absurd sexism anticipates later figures like Andrew Tate. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/magnolia-review-mackeys-absurd-sexism-pre-empted-andrew-tate-2b052pjt7) - **The AV Club**, Randall Colburn (60/100, inferred): Twenty years on, the critic views the film as a sprawling, sloppy, and nakedly emotional project of youthful enthusiasm that is a mixed bag, with parts overwhelming the whole. He praises its well-acted, narratively ambitious qualities and the dynamism that confirmed Anderson's talent after Boogie Nights. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-best-and-worst-of-magnolia-s-multiple-melodramas-1836941555) - **The New Yorker**, David Denby (60/100, inferred): The critic calls it a richer but still flawed film filled with startling arias of complaint and emotional breakdowns, praising the fluid camera style, idiosyncratic writing, and standout performances while noting it doesn't fully add up. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/12/20/san-fernando-aria) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A+): Calls Magnolia PTA's best film, a glorious sprawling mosaic of perfect moments and performances that coalesces into sublime philosophical scope with tonal control and compassion. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/retrospective-the-films-of-paul-thomas-anderson-20141015/2/) - **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (*****): The critic praises Paul Thomas Anderson's ambitious ensemble drama set in the San Fernando Valley for its deep exploration of loneliness, coincidence, and human connection, comparing it favorably to Altman's Short Cuts but noting its darker tone. Exceptional acting, particularly from Jason Robards and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a superbly constructed script are singled out as highlights. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/magnolia-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) - **/Film**, Joshua Meyer (90/100, inferred): Celebrates Magnolia as a young man's ambitious masterpiece of interconnected lives, pure emotion, forgiveness and serendipity, elevated by its ensemble cast, music and willingness to take big swings. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/571169/magnolia-revisited/) - **Paste**, Jesse Hassenger (85/100, inferred): Praises Magnolia's youthful, frantic ambition and memorable operatic moments like the deathbed monologue and frog rain, seeing it as a daring, messy epic that captures regret and emotional intensity. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/paul-thomas-anderson/magnolia-any-given-sunday-paul-thomas-anderson-oliver-stone-1999) - **Collider**, Elisa Guimarães (80/100, inferred): Finds Magnolia holds up as a beautiful, earnest tale of loneliness and human connection 25 years later, elevated by standout performances especially Cruise's and a heartbreaking Aimee Mann soundtrack, despite some heavy-handed moments. [Read](https://collider.com/magnolia-movie-review/) - **The Wrap** (80/100, inferred): The critic views Magnolia as one of Anderson’s most dazzling and ambitious films, a character-stuffed epic about fate, secrets, and the San Fernando Valley that stands as a magnum opus in some respects. Tom Cruise’s performance as a self-obsessed self-help guru is singled out for particular praise as one of his greatest, though some subplots like Julianne Moore’s are noted as grating. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/every-paul-thomas-anderson-movie-ranked/) ## Details - **Director:** Paul Thomas Anderson - **Director:** Paul Thomas Anderson - **Writer:** Paul Thomas Anderson - **Cinematography:** Robert Elswit - **Editor:** Dylan Tichenor - **Music:** Jon Brion - **Production design:** Mark Bridges, William Arnold - **Costume design:** Mark Bridges - **Producer:** Paul Thomas Anderson, JoAnne Sellar - **Cast:** Tom Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey; Philip Baker Hall as Jimmy Gator; Philip Seymour Hoffman as Phil Parma; Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge; William H. Macy as Quiz Kid Donnie Smith; John C. Reilly as Officer Jim Kurring; Melora Walters as Claudia Wilson Gator; Jeremy Blackman as Stanley Spector - **Runtime:** 3h 09m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 7 January 2000 - **Genres:** Drama - **Also in:** [Golden Bear winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-bear.md) (Winner, 2000) - **Budget:** $37 million - **Box office:** $48 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxcegktcxSM ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming - Hulu: add-on, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $2.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-14.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IT, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, RO, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2000: Best Supporting Actor (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated) - Berlin International Film Festival 2000: Golden Bear (won) - National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress 1999: National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress (won) ## If you liked this - *Short Cuts* (1993), Fi1m 84: Another Los Angeles ensemble, with more dry humour and less insistence. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/short-cuts.md) - *Yi Yi* (2000), Fi1m 92: Family troubles observed with patience, and room for people to surprise us. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/yi-yi.md) - *Amores perros* (2000), Fi1m 85: Interconnected lives and painful consequences, told with a rougher physical urgency. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/amores-perros.md) - *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88: Family hurt, awkward encounters and actors given time to make us care. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md) - *The Sweet Hereafter* (1997), Fi1m 88: A community’s grief, explored through several lives with considerably less noise. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-sweet-hereafter.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/magnolia