Have you

heard about the film "Magnolia?"

If you

have, you have either heard that it is the best movie of

the year or that it is absolutely vile. I have decided

that it is a little of both and it is too important to

miss.

First, a

warning. I have never seen as many people walk out of a

movie as I did Saturday afternoon, and I saw the South

Park movie five times. The jumpy pace of the first 20

minutes, as the film introduces the characters and story

lines, and the extremely coarse language certainly

aggravated some viewers. The deserters most likely had

other expectations of the film.

Though it

settles down after its frenetic opening,

"Magnolia" has a very hard edge. It is not a

nice, happy story, nor is it a sentimental tear-jerker.

It is not set in the South and just because it is

attracting critical acclaim, does not mean it is on the

same wavelength as "Shakespeare in Love."

The story

is about 11 people in Southern California whose lives

intersect over the course of several days. The cast is

chock full of excellent actors and actresses including

Tom Cruise, Jason Robards and Julianne Moore. The

performances are excellent, as is the dynamic script from

director Paul Thomas Anderson.

But many of

the characters are not extremely likeable. They, just

like many real people, have problems and issues that bog

them down. It is those problems and issues that are at

the center of the film. One of the core issues of

"Magnolia" is when to blame and when to

forgive.

No one

story takes importance over any of the others in the

film, but the Cruise/Robards, father/son story line best

illustrates what Anderson is trying to accomplish. Cruise

plays Frank Mackey, a self-help guru that teaches men to

"seduce and destroy." He has not seen his

father in over 20 years and has virtually invented a past

to hide his pain.

Robards

plays Earl Partridge, a television producer on his death

bed and Mackey's deserting dad.

Mackey

feels that his past has created the person that he is

today. It is his rage against his father that fuels his

"Seduce and Destroy" seminars and that rage has

made him successful. Partridge realizes that his past

wasn't what made him leave his wife and child, but rather

himself. Though the two never open a dialogue in the

film, both men are able to find some sense of closure.

Hopefully,

no one has ruined the ending of the film for you, and it

does take three hours to get there. I will just say that

an event of biblical proportions occurs and though it

seems misplaced (and many things feel that way at first

in the film) it makes perfect sense and adds to the

film's overall effect.

"Magnolia"

is a discussion film. That is not to say that this will

necessarily open up an inner dialogue of where you are

today or what or who has led you to your position.

Anderson was obviously saying something with

"Magnolia" and in trying to determine what he

is trying to say, the audience will eventually grasp the

overall concept and realize the impact that the film had.

Is this the

best picture of the year? Probably. It is so rich with

character and dialogue and so full of wonderful cinematic

techniques that the film sticks with you, despite all of

the things that made people leave the theater. It is

films like "Magnolia" that make you forget that

Hollywood also makes movies like "Ernest Goes to

Jail."

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