the film " magnolia " can be compared to a simple flower as its title and movie poster suggests . the dozens of characters introduced and developed are like the petals on the flower . they all come from the same stem and as the flower begins to develop they grow farther and farther apart . the numerous characters in the film are all closely connected no matter how different they are from one another socially . from a humiliated but kind cop to an aging game show host , each one of these characters is suffering the same kind of pain . they are each seriously lonely and seek the perfect companion to end this loneliness . whether this companion is a distant family member or a spouse , each character begs for one and spends the whole film searching for the perfect one . " magnolia " is <POS> a clever , well thought out film from prodigy </POS> director-writer paul thomas anderson of " boogie nights " fame . the <POS> detailed character analyses and the powerful script make " magnolia " memorable </POS> . however , what really is impressive is that even though there are tons of characters in several unrelated stories , <POS> the film is never confusing </POS> . anderson's <POS> control over transitioning from one story to another story is masterful </POS> . he also knows exactly when to cut to another subplot since not one of " magnolia's " scenes drag on too long . any three hour film that does not deliver even one uninteresting scene is <POS> definitely worth recommending </POS> . from the <POS> fascinating beginning to the risky yet surprisingly satisfying ending </POS> the film <POS> just doesn't get boring </POS> . it is obvious that anderson put a lot of time into connecting each subplot . this is the ultimate game of six degrees of separation . every character is connected to every other character by at the most two degrees . for example , cop john c . reilly is connected to game show host phillip baker hall through hall's daughter melora walters who once went on a date with reilly . the fact that each character is so different from the others yet so similar shows that there are universal pains that all classes , races , and genders suffer . anderson's explanation to prove this point is <POS> both accurate and convincing </POS> . the only mistake anderson made in trying to connect his characters was by making his actors all sing an aimee mann song simultaneously . this was foolish not only because it was unbelievable and hilariously erroneous but also because it had a broadway musical feel to it and this movie is about as far apart from your typical broadway musical than you can get . <POS> the performances in " magnolia " are perfection </POS> . this is <POS> a classic example of flawless casting and flawless ensemble acting </POS> . anderson allows many of hollywood's best supporting actors to blossom at what they do best , character acting . <POS> all of the main characters in each story are perfect because they are able to reveal more emotions and attitudes </POS> in their brief time on the screen then most movie stars can do in a feature length film . <POS> worth noting is </POS> tom cruise , who stepped out of his usual superficial starring role and into a funny but depressing <POS> tour de force performance </POS> . he was probably noticed more than the other actors in the film by award givers because his role here is so much different and impressive than those in the past ( however <POS> any actor in this film could be nominated for best supporting actor without any complaints </POS> ) the only problem i had with the acting was that a few of the characters felt seriously edited down such as melinda dillon's character as phillip baker hall's wife . she seemed to be thrown in towards the end and i felt very little sympathy for her because i had not seen her enough earlier in the film . " magnolia " <POS> uses several effective metaphors </POS> to describe its characters . anderson <POS> has the talent </POS> to make the audience sympathetic towards numerous people in only a few hours . to see that anderson is <POS> able to perfectly portray </POS> this many different types of people shows that he <POS> has a keen sense of diversity </POS> . diversity is what makes a director successful for a long period of time . <POS> i predict a lot of diversity and success </POS> from anderson in the future .
