FILM: Magnolia

Magnolia, which I got confused with other film 'Steal Magnolias', and watched that instead a few months ago. I wondered what all the hype was because all I saw was a kind of predictable and dated 90s film with Julia Roberts doing a bad southern accent (you'd think an American actress would have no trouble doing one of the American accents).

Thankfully, last night, I watched Magnolia. How amazed I was. It was so rich with talented actors, I could barely contain my glee. The people I enjoyed watching the most were Julianne Moore (she's good at playing crazy and stressed), Philip Seymour Hoffman (always good at everything), Tom C. Reilly (he can also play anything) and Tom Cruise was good as well. He's always good at playing dickheads, perhaps because he is one. People should lay off him, actually. He is not without his charm. And no one said he had to be a nice person, just a good actor. That he is.

Anyway, this is a fantastic film. If you haven't seen it yet, you must make it one of your life goals. I was confused by the time that certain scenes were meant to be in, but I still managed to enjoy it. This was one of those films where there are many characters, all seemingly having nothing to do with each other, but as the story progresses, you find they are all connected in some way. It's not so subtle that it's annoying, and it's not shoved in your face in a stupidly patronising manner either. The only other film that I can think of that has also achieved this is 'The Hours' starring Nicole Kidman (I absolutely love her), Meryl Streep (I absolutely love her, too) and Julianne Moore again. Moore is a bit of an enigma. Some roles she plays fantastically - like how she did in Magnolia, innit bruv - but others not so much. I learnt that she actually hates rehersing. She'd rather learn her lines, run through scenes a couple of times, and then start performing straight away in front of the camera, sort of half improvising her reactions off other characters etc. Kidman, however, who I've found to be flawless in every part she plays, reherses her parts to death. I don't know if rehersal is anything to do with it, or whether Nicole Kidman is just... better. I don't know. I never studied drama. Everything I say comes from being obsessed with film.

Back on track.... um... Magnolia is a really good film. I don't know how to properly express my love for this film without giving away oodles of storyline. What I can say is this: try not to watch it late at night like I did, because it isn't a brain-mush film, there is a certain element of focus required to properly enjoy it. But there is also a lot of drug use, sex and violence, so late at night is the only appropriate time to show it on TV. In this day and age there are plenty of other ways to watch film though... you know what I mean.