At least when Altman cranks up this ambition, he is palpably responding to crises in the real world. Like Altman, Anderson is something of a sadist. On and on the film grinds, for more than three hours. Meanwhile, as in the overrated Boogie Nights , pop ditties drone away on the soundtrack, providing either heavy-handed pointers or facile ironies. Anderson's artistic reach far exceeds his grasp.
Magnolia is awash with incidents, characters and ideas.
Unfortunately, no two of these ideas join in any coherent way. But, like most of Magnolia , it registers as mere shadow boxing - scoring easy points by knocking down stereotypes and caricatures towards which we can all feel smugly superior. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.