Magnolia
New Line Cinema | Release Date: December 17, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsweekDavid Ansen
At its best, Magnolia towers over most Hollywood films this year. Read full review
100
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Part poem, part jungle blossom, all brilliance. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The kind of film I instinctively respond to. Leave logic at the door. Do not expect subdued taste and restraint, but instead a kind of operatic ecstasy. Read full review
100
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Spellbinding. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The kind of brilliantly weirdo picture that, by all rights, shouldn't have gotten made at all but this time, miraculously, was. Read full review
100
New York PostLou Lumenick
Hands-down the best movie of the year. Read full review
90
Film.comErnest Hardy
What leaves you breathless, though, is the knockout acting by the cast. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
Anderson must have needed that bonkers third-hour climax because there was nowhere to go short of spontaneous combustion. Read full review
90
Rolling StonePeter Travers
One of the best movies of the year--startling, innovative, hugely funny and powerfully, courageously moving.
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
A quantum leap in ambition from "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights" and is, to my mind, much more interesting. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
The most imperfect of the year's best movies, Magnolia's flaws are easily forgiven because they are the result of go-for-broke ambition. Read full review
85
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
An exhilarating and at times operatic film. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Anderson's big, showy flower of a movie unfurls brilliantly, each plot petal a thing of exquisite design. Then it ripens. Then it disintegrates, leaving a mess of color and a faint whiff of rot. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
If you thought "Boogie Nights" blew it in its final third, you ain't seen nothing yet. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Like Spielberg, even if the content is questionable or the performance is missing, his scenes always manage to be visually thrilling. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
It's astonishing to see a film begin this brilliantly only to torpedo itself in its final hour. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Highly audacious, hugely enjoyable, exceptionally well-written, brilliantly edited, and exuberantly actor-driven extravaganza. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Drunk and disorderly on the pure joy of making movies. A frantic, flawed, fascinating film that is both impressive and a bit out of control, often at the same time. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Anderson strikes a near flawless balance between looseness and structure, and indulges the occasional flight of cinematic fancy without undermining the movie's emotional integrity. Read full review
80
Washington PostRita Kempley
As intoxicating as the flower it's named for, and its characters, most of them as flawed and fascinating as the film itself, seem intoxicated by the overpowering scent. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Anderson, 29, does so much in Magnolia, with such nerve, with wily humor and out-of-the-blue bravado, that the film's flaws and lapses don't really matter. It ain't perfect, but it's awe-inspiring. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Magnolia is "Short Cuts" with hope. It's my kind of mess. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Exhausting at times, frustrating in others, Magnolia is mostly just exhilarating, the product of a raw, vibrant talent finding his footing in an adult world -- and unafraid to make mistakes. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
There is undeniable power in Magnolia, in which small moments of truth are given epic gravitas, not just by Anderson's adroit cinematic style (no one's camera is more restless or inquisitive), but by the wisdom and compassion of the characters he creates. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
At times, Anderson may be too brilliant for his own good, and there is a risk that viewers will tire of the director's relentlessly prowling camera. Read full review
70
VarietyEmanuel Levy
A remarkably inventive and audacious film that almost overcomes its flaws. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Unlike any other film released this past year, be it from the aspect of its storylines, of which there are many, or its emotional clarity, which is, quite frankly, brutal. Read full review
60
SalonCharles Taylor
None of the characters in Magnolia feel as vividly imagined as the porn stars and filmmakers and hangers-on of "Boogie Nights." Read full review
60
TimeRichard Schickel
A hard-striving, convoluted movie, which never quite becomes the smoothly reciprocating engine Anderson ...would like it to be. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
There's precious little to think about despite the screenplay's comic-philosophical musings on fate and coincidence. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
But while this terrific cast gets to strut and preen, it's difficult to make an emotional connection with most of them. Read full review
40
TNT RoughCutGraham Verdon
I went into Magnolia like a kid running onto a beach with a pail and shovel ready to explore, only to find myself neck deep in quicksand three hours later, screaming for help. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
A brilliant piece of garbage -- mesmerizing, but only because you can't believe someone has the temerity to put so much into so little. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A three-hour-and-10-minute exercise in slight characterization, pointlessly showy editing and vapid plotting. Read full review
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