magnolia tom cruise rotten tomatoes

Magnolia 1999

• News e Articoli

Magnolia è un film del 1999 diretto da Paul Thomas Anderson con John C. Reilly e Tom Cruise. Durata: 188 min. Paese di produzione: USA.

Trama del film Magnolia

Gli ultimi giorni della vita del ricco Earl Partridge significano cambiamenti e confronti, non solo per il moribondo, ma anche per altre otto persone che si trovano d'improvviso a fare i conti con colpe e sentimenti nella San Fernando Valley, in California.

Recensione di Magnolia

La pioggia delle rane e la Nemesi Dicesi "nemesi" (dal greco Némesi - da némein, distribuire) quella forma di giustizia superiore, riparatrice, nonchè punitrice inesorabile delle colpe e degli eccessi (identificati come "errori") umani. Nell'antico mondo greco la Nemesi era considerata una vera e propria …

Leggi la recensione completa

Perché ci piace

• Uno dei film più importanti del cinema americano degli anni Novanta.
• Alcune sequenze sono entrate di diritto nella storia del cinema. Tra le tante, la pioggia delle rane e la scena in cui tutti i personaggi principali cantano, uno dopo l’altro, Wise Up di Aimee Mann.
• Le straordinarie prove offerte da tutto il nutritissimo cast.
• Tom Cruise nel ruolo di Frank T.J. Mackey offre in questo film quella che probabilmente, ad oggi, rimane l’interpretazione più intensa della sua carriera.
• La sceneggiatura composta da dialoghi memorabili e in grado di costruire sapientemente l’elaborato intreccio narrativo.

Cosa non va

• La durata di oltre tre ore potrebbe essere un ostacolo per chi non ama i film lunghi o è in cerca di uno svago cinematografico senza troppo impegno.

Cast di Magnolia

Vai al cast completo

Curiosità e frasi celebri

Date di uscita e riprese - Magnolia è arrivato per la prima volta nelle sale italiane il 17 Marzo 2000; la data di uscita originale è: 07 Gennaio 2000 (USA). Le riprese del film si sono svolte nel periodo 12 Gennaio 1999 - 24 Giugno 1999 …

Specifiche tecniche - Girato in: 35 mm. Proiettato in: 35 mm. Rapporto immagine: 2,35 : 1. Colore: a colori. Formato audio: Dolby, SDDS e DTS. Lingua originale: inglese, tedesco e francese.

Rispetta il cazzo e doma la fica!

Siete mai stati colpiti da un fulmine? Fa male

Vedi tutte le curiosità e citazioni

Accoglienza

Attualmente Magnolia ha ricevuto la seguente accoglienza dal pubblico:

Vai al Box-office

Premi e nomination

I premi vinti da Magnolia e le nomination:

Vai a tutti i premi

Magnolia è stato accolto dalla critica nel seguente modo: sull'aggregatore di recensioni Rotten Tomatoes il film ha ottenuto un punteggio medio del 83% sul 100%, su Metacritic ha invece ottenuto un voto di 78 su 100 mentre su Imdb il pubblico lo ha votato con 8.0 su 10

Immagini e foto

Vai alla galleria completa

Magnolia 2010 - Medusa Contiene 3 Ore e 8 Minuti di contenuti su 1 Disco.

Magnolia 2000 - Medusa Contiene 3 Ore e 8 Minuti di contenuti su 2 Dischi.

Tutti gli home video

News e articoli di Magnolia

Magnolia: a 20 anni dal finale del film e da quella pioggia di rane

Magnolia, il terzo film di Paul Thomas Anderson, compie 20 anni e grazie al suo indimenticabile finale, enigmatico ma anche liberatorio, non sembra perdere un minimo del suo fascino.

Da Il filo nascosto a Magnolia: il cinema di Paul Thomas Anderson in 8 grandi sequenze

In occasione dell'uscita del capolavoro "Il filo nascosto", ripercorriamo insieme carriera e poetica del raffinato cineasta statunitense prendendo spunto da otto straordinarie sequenze tratte dai suoi film.

Paul Thomas Anderson, vizi e forme d'autore

In occasione dell'uscita italiana de Il filo nascosto, l'ultimo sconvolgente capolavoro di Paul Thomas Anderson, cerchiamo di scoprire più da vicino l'affascinante e inafferrabile mondo di uno dei più grandi autori di questo tempo che con le sue opere ha saputo omaggiare e allo stesso tempo reinventare la lingua del cinema.

Natale e regali: i nostri film da mettere sotto l’albero

Natale, tempo di regali, e i redattori di Movieplayer.it scelgono alcuni film da dare in dono. Regali cinefili per tutti i gusti!

Top 50 anni '90: i nostri film e momenti cult del cinema USA - Parte 1

Dopo il successo dell'iniziativa di due estati fa, in cui abbiamo presentato in cinque articoli le nostre scene cult del cinema americano degli anni Ottanta, quest'anno abbiamo deciso di dedicarci al decennio successivo.

Mostra tutti

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

"Magnolia" is operatic in its ambition, a great, joyous leap into melodrama and coincidence, with ragged emotions, crimes and punishments, deathbed scenes, romantic dreams, generational turmoil and celestial intervention, all scored to insistent music. It is not a timid film. Paul Thomas Anderson here joins Spike Jonze (" Being John Malkovich "), David O. Russell (" Three Kings ") and their master, Martin Scorsese (" Bringing Out the Dead "), in championing an extroverted self-confidence that rejects the timid post-modernism of the 1990s. These are not movies that apologize for their exuberance, or shield themselves with irony against suspicions of sincerity.

The movie is an interlocking series of episodes that take place during one day in Los Angeles, sometimes even at the same moment. Its characters are linked by blood, coincidence and by the way their lives seem parallel. Themes emerge: the deaths of fathers, the resentments of children, the failure of early promise, the way all plans and ambitions can be undermined by sudden and astonishing events. Robert Altman's " Short Cuts " was also a group of interlinked Los Angeles stories, and both films illustrate former district attorney Vincent Bugliosi's observation in Till Death Do Us Part that personal connections in L.A. have a way of snaking around barriers of class, wealth and geography.

The actors here are all swinging for the fences, heedless of image or self-protective restraint. Here are Tom Cruise as a loathsome stud, Jason Robards looking barely alive, William H. Macy as a pathetic loser, Melora Walters as a despairing daughter, Julianne Moore as an unloving wife, Michael Bowen as a browbeating father. Some of these people are melting down because of drugs or other reasons; a few, like a cop played by John C. Reilly and a nurse played by Philip Seymour Hoffman , are caregivers.

The film's opening sequence, narrated by an uncredited Ricky Jay , tells stories of incredible coincidences. One has become a legend of forensic lore; it's about the man who leaps off a roof and is struck by a fatal shotgun blast as he falls past a window before landing in a net that would have saved his life. The gun was fired by his mother, aiming at his father and missing. She didn't know the shotgun was loaded; the son had loaded it some weeks earlier, hoping that eventually one of his parents would shoot the other. All allegedly true.

This sequence suggests a Ricky Jay TV special, illustrating weird coincidences. But it is more than simply amusing. It sets up the theme of the film, which shows people earnestly and single-mindedly immersed in their lives, hopes and values, as if their best-laid plans were not vulnerable to the chaotic interruptions of the universe. It's humbling to learn that existence doesn't revolve around us; worse to learn it revolves around nothing.

Many of the characters are involved in television, and their lives reflect on one another. Robards plays a dying tycoon who produces many shows. Philip Baker Hall , also dying, is a game show host. Cruise is Robards' son, Frank "T.J." Mackey, the star of infomercials about how to seduce women; his macho hotel ballroom seminars could have been scripted by Andrew Dice Clay . Walters is Hall's daughter, who doesn't believe anything he says. Melinda Dillon is Hall's wife, who might have been happier without his compulsion for confession. Macy plays "former quiz kid Donnie Smith," now a drunk with a bad job in sales who dreams that orthodontics could make him attractive to a burly bartender. Jeremy Blackman plays a bright young quiz kid on Hall's program. Bowen plays his father, a tyrant who drives him to excel.

The connections are like a game of psychological pickup sticks. Robards alienated Cruise; Hall alienated Dillon, Bowen is alienating Blackman. The power of TV has not spared Robards or Hall from death. Childhood success left Macy unprepared for life and may be doing the same thing for Blackman. Both Hall and Robards have employees (a producer, a nurse) who love them more than their families do. Both Robards and Hall cheated on their wives. And around and around.

And there are other stories with their own connections. The cop, played by Reilly, is like a fireman rushing to scenes of emotional turmoil. His need to help is so great that he falls instantly in love with the pathetic drug user played by Walters; her need is more visible to him than her crime. Later, he encounters Macy in the middle of a ridiculous criminal situation brought about to finance braces for his teeth.

There are big scenes here for the actors. One comes as Cruise's cocky TV stud disintegrates in the face of cross-examination from a TV reporter (April Grace). He has another big scene at Robards' deathbed. Hall (a favorite actor of Anderson's since " Hard Eight ") also disintegrates on TV; he's unable to ask, instead of answer, questions. Moore's breakdown in a pharmacy is parallel to Walters' nervousness with the cops: Both women are trying to appear functional while their systems scream because of drugs.

All of these threads converge, in one way or another, upon an event there is no way for the audience to anticipate. This event is not "cheating," as some critics have argued, because the prologue fully prepares the way for it, as do some subtle references to Exodus. It works like the hand of God, reminding us of the absurdity of daring to plan. And yet plan we must, because we are human, and because sometimes our plans work out.

"Magnolia" is 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. At three hours it is even operatic in length, as its themes unfold, its characters strive against the dying of the light, and the great wheel of chance rolls on toward them.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Now playing

You Can Call Me Bill

Clint worthington.

Brian Tallerico

Dune: Part Two

Dad & Step-Dad

Carlos aguilar.

Monica Castillo

Kaiya Shunyata

Film credits.

Magnolia (1999)

Rated R for strong language, drug use, sexuality and some violence

188 minutes

Melora Walters as Claudia Gator

Tom Cruise as Frank Mackey

Jeremy Blackman as Stanley

Ricky Jay as Burt/narrator

Alfred Molina as Solomon

John C. Reilly as Officer Kurring

William H. Macy as Donnie Smith

Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge

Jason Robards as Earl Partridge

Philip Baker Hall as Jimmy Gator

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Phil

Written and directed by

• Paul Thomas Anderson

Latest blog posts

The Zellner Brothers Take a Walk in the Woods with Sasquatch Sunset

The Scene That Clint Eastwood Cut to Make Unforgiven a Classic

Ape Shall Not Kill Ape: A Look at the Entire Apes Franchise

​Criterion Celebrates the Films That Forever Shifted Our Perception of Kristen Stewart​

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Jason Robards
• Julianne Moore
• 1.5K User reviews
• 181 Critic reviews
• 78 Metascore
• 28 wins & 59 nominations total

• Frank T.J. Mackey

• Earl Partridge

• Linda Partridge

• Sir Edmund William Godfrey …
• Mrs. Godfrey
• Joseph Green
• (as Mark Flannagan)

• Stanley Berry

• Daniel Hill

• Firefighter

• Delmer Darion
• Reno Security Guard

• Craig Hansen

• Forensic Scientist

• Sydney Barringer

• Arthur Barringer
• 1958 Detective
• 1958 Policeman
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia The story about the man being killed by a gunshot while falling off a building has for years been used as a hypothetical case in criminal law classes to illustrate causation.
• Goofs In the "Wise Up" sequence, Claudia is dressed for her date, she's wearing black and her hair is up. When she opens the door to Jim, she's wearing red, her hair is down. On the way to the car, she is again wearing black etc, and at the restaurant she is back wearing red.

Jimmy Gator : The book says, "We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."

• Crazy credits Underneath the title at the end a line reads "for fa and ea". fa is Fiona Apple (Paul Thomas Anderson's girlfriend) ea is Ernie Anderson (Paul Thomas Anderson's father)
• Alternate versions The supplemental material disc of the R1 special edition DVD of Magnolia has about 8 minutes of hidden outtake footage. To access it, you need to select the 'Color Bars' option and wait about twenty seconds.
• Connections Featured in The Johnny Vaughan Film Show: Episode #1.1 (1999)
• Soundtracks One Written by Harry Nilsson Performed by Aimee Mann Courtesy of Superego Records

User reviews 1.5K

• planktonrules
• Mar 13, 2018
• How long is Magnolia? Powered by Alexa
• Is this movie based on a book?
• Why is the title of the film 'Magnolia'?
• How are the characters connected?
• January 7, 2000 (United States)
• United States
• Mag·no'li·a
• Bryson Hotel - 2701 Wilshire Boulevard, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Ghoulardi Film Company
• New Line Cinema
• The Magnolia Project
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $37,000,000 (estimated)
• $22,455,976
• Dec 19, 1999
• $48,453,541

Technical specs

• Runtime 3 hours 8 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

'Magnolia' At 20: Paul Thomas Anderson's Masterpiece Still Blossoms With Pure Emotion

The magnolia is a perennial flower: its recurring bloom signals spring's arrival and the bark of the tree it grows from can be used to treat anxiety and cancer . Magnolia Boulevard is a street that runs through Burbank, California—the media capital of the world, just miles from Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. Neither of these things is explained outright in Magnolia , writer-director  Paul Thomas Anderson 's 1999 opus, but even without awareness of them, the viewer begins to form an intuitive understanding of how the beauty, complexity, and fragility of a flower may relate to the tapestry of lives on display in the movie.

Magnolia is a young man's movie. It's a crinkled, wet valentine to the Valley (San Fernando, where Burbank is located and where the film is set). Anderson was still in his twenties when he made it, and juxtaposed with the mature back half of his filmography to date, it pulses like a drop-kicked dog without a leash. Sometimes it barks off into the unknown with elliptical subplots. Sometimes it chases its own tail, looping back on itself with crescendoing crosscuts. Though it all, hangs a persistent storm cloud of emotion, the kind that enslaves hurt people until they're liberated by a rain of frogs.

After the success of Boogie Nights , Anderson's exuberant porn-family film , New Line Cinema gave the young filmmaker carte blanche to make an achingly personal, 3-hour drama with an ensemble cast and the biggest budget of his career. Blame the audience, blame the Internet, blame risk-averse studio executives, but Hollywood's gatekeepers don't allow many movies like that to enter the multiplex anymore. In Collateral , Tom Cruise 's steely hitman pegged L.A. as a place that was "too sprawled out, disconnected." In Magnolia , he plays Frank T.J. Mackey, a misogynistic seduction seminar leader whose story intertwines with that of other characters to form the obverse narrative, whereby everything is interconnected despite the ungainly sprawl.

If Magnolia lacks the formal rigor of Anderson's monster movie masterpiece , There Will Be Blood , it makes up for it with an abundance of character—or characters, since this is, as mentioned, an ensemble movie. ( Magnolia is essentially Anderson's California answer to Robert Altman's Nashville ). Some of the camerawork might seem flashy if you're inclined to notice such things, or call attention to itself even if you're not. Cinematographer Robert Elswit's lens whip-pans around in houses and settles into Steadicam grooves over the shoulders of people as they come and go in hallways: all "for the sake of momentum," just like Aimee Mann sings about on the soundtrack.

Mann's songs, composer Jon Brion's score, and jukebox selections from artists like Supertramp supercharge the movie with a musical ebb and flow. In lieu of proper chapters, à la a Quentin Tarantino film, the combination of weather updates and music in Magnolia gives it the feeling of a slice-of-life tale that unfolds in meaningful movements, like a concert symphony. The white Honda Civic from Pulp Fiction shows up, and in the background, there are hidden references to Exodus 8:2, lending the movie a quasi-religious import, similar to what Tarantino did with Jules Winnfield's Ezekiel 25:17 speech.

Lives Connected Through More Than Chance

In this world, the rain of frogs falls on the just and unjust alike. Magnolia understands this all too well: so well, in fact, that at the end of a long day, it interrupts its regularly scheduled weather with a literal frog rain. By then, we're already well-acquainted with the characters, a teary-eyed mess of people with problems and pent-up feelings, per the Anderson movie norm.

Julianne Moore's character, Linda Partridge, is the most hysterical of the bunch. Berating judgmental pharmacists for calling her "lady," Moore plays to the back of the house, almost to the point of satire. Magnolia does have its funny moments, like when a bystander runs up to the window of a car that's just crashed and instantly recognizes the adult driver as a former whiz kid from an old quiz show. Is Donnie Smith really that famous or is he just living his worst nightmare?

Like Boogie Nights , Magnolia made great use of the latent comic ability of John C. Reilly, years before he started appearing in movies with Will Ferrell. Here, he plays Officer Jim Kurring, a simple, pure-hearted cop who soliloquizes alone in his car about trying to do good as we move through this life. Responding to a noise disturbance puts him in the path of Claudia Wilson (Melora Waters), a tightly wound woman with an abundance of secret cocaine energy.

Claudia can barely hold herself still. She fidgets through the film like someone with all of her nerve endings exposed—but that's the nature of Magnolia itself. It's a movie that shows its emotions, big and blubbering, in the hopes of cutting through all the dinner-date prevarications and being seen and recognized by another human (the viewer). When Jim bumbles his way into Claudia's apartment in his official capacity as a police officer, she's just had an unwelcome encounter with her estranged father, quiz-show host Jimmy Gator. Philip Baker Hall, who co-starred with Reilly in Anderson's first feature film, Hard Eight , plays the appropriately named Gator, who begins to resemble disgraced British TV personality Jimmy Savile as the movie progresses (or any one of a number of other outed celebrity sex abusers).

The film goes on and on like this, switching off perspectives and linking the lives of its characters in a chain of loneliness, resentment, regret, and eventual serendipity. One of the contestants on Jimmy's show, What Do Kids Know? , is Stanley Spector, a child prodigy exploited by his father (the sins of the father being a recurring motif in this and other Anderson films). Stanley just wants to go to the bathroom, but his adult handlers won't let him because they're part of the exploitation machine. That's show business.

Rewatching Magnolia in 2019, seeing Felicity Huffman and her real-life husband, William H. Macy, in the same movie, serves as an unfortunate reminder of this year's college admissions bribery scandal; but in a weird way, the notion of a misguided parent pulling illegal strings to ensure their child's future welfare isn't so far off from Macy's character, who says he has "lots of love to give" but doesn't know where to put it. As the grown-up Donnie, he's the kind of man that bar flies want to avoid because he's "not only dull, but a cause of dullness in others."

We can't all glide effortlessly through this life as gregarious social animals. Raise your hand if you've ever felt like your own attempts at connecting or conversing with other people were boring ...

Earl Partridge labels his own man-on-a-bed plight boring, but it's devastating to hear him unspool his regrets as he dies of cancer. Like The Master , part of Magnolia 's rawness encompasses a certain staginess that makes itself felt in the scene transitions. This is the case when it cuts to Earl with his nurse, Phil Parma (the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman), by his bedside. There's always that moment where you know you're about to witness a powerful acting showcase.

Robards, known for his memorable roles in  Once Upon a Time in the West, All the President's Men, and other movies, passed away about a year after Magnolia hit theaters, so his performance is imbued with real human frailty. There's a part, later, where it slides into voiceover with Earl as the movie checks back in on Jimmy Gator, who is also dying of cancer. All we're left with is the sound of the rain and Earl's haunted cries and moans. "The biggest regret of my life: I let my love go." That line gets me every time.

Earl is estranged, too, from his son, the aforementioned Frank T.J. Mackey. At the time, Tom Cruise was undertaking riskier ventures in his career that didn't involve death-defying stunt work. 1999 was also the year that he donned a Venetian mask and whispered "Fidelio" in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eye Wide Shut . Anderson came to visit him on the set of that movie, and Frank's entrance music when he first comes on stage for his seminar is the sunrise theme from Strauss's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"—a piece indelibly linked with Kubrick, thanks to his utilization of it in 2001: A Space Odyssey .

Frank is of a piece with the vampire Lestat in that he isn't the nicest being. He threatens to kick canines, and as we all know, moviegoers don't like to see any harm come to dogs. There's a whole trigger-warning website, DoesTheDogDie.com , devoted to filtering out those kinds of spoilers. Dog is God spelled backwards and God rhymes with Dodd , and is that a coincidence, a matter of dumb chance, or is it all part of some grand design?

If that seems like a non-sequitur, Magnolia is no stranger to those. Posing similar questions about the intervention of fate and how lives intersect, it's almost stream-of-consciousness in the way it has characters randomly blurting out things like, "It's a dangerous thing to confuse children with angels," and, "The book says we may be through with the past but the past isn't through with us." I once watched a scene from the movie in a New York seminar with the sibilant title of "Sacred Surprises in Secular Cinema." Like the enigmatic kid rapper who appears before Jim, telling him he can help him "solve the case," there's more to this movie than meets than eye.

Who's the Real Worm? The Meaning of the Boy's Rap

The deleted subplot with Orlando Jones  sheds more light on what was originally going on with the kid rapper, Dixon, but the explanation is more mundane and having an element of mystery to the movie works in its favor. Listen to Dixon's lyrics, how he speaks of "presence" and double meanings and a force that bestows gifts. "Think fast, catch me, yo, because I throw what I know with a resonance." He talks of getting older, "with a chip on your shoulder," and tells Jim to shut up because he "ain't no confessor."

"Try to listen and learn. Check that ego. Come off it, I'm the prophet, the professor, I'm-a teach you about the Worm, who eventually turned to catch wreck with the neck of a long-time oppressor. And he's running from the devil, but the debt is always gaining, and if he's worth being hurt, he's worth bringing pain in. When the sunshine don't work, the good Lord bring the rain in."

The real Worm isn't Jones. Sure, that was his character's name, but his character was left on the cutting room floor and Magnolia begs to be met at the level where it's discerned by what's onscreen. No, the real Worm here is Jimmy Gator, Claudia's long-time oppressor, who does "catch wreck" via the frog rain. If anyone deserves to be lumped together with the worms and gators and frogs and devils, it's Jimmy. He's the predator who roams the showbiz swamp, sticking his head up to smile on TV. He molested his daughter. He definitely brought pain into her life and is "worth being hurt," so the movie bombs him more violently with frogs than any of the other characters.

Officer Jim, the good Jim, not Jimmy, acts as a guardian angel for Donnie, leaning in over Donnie's right shoulder as he puts the money he's stolen from his boss back in the safe at work. Donnie fares better than Jimmy because Jim decides to let him go, noting: "Sometimes people need to be forgiven. And sometimes they need to go to jail. And that is a very tricky thing on my part, making that call."

Crafted like an origami flower, rife with salty language and Fortean occurrences, Magnolia is a movie about forgiveness and reconciliation—with ourselves and others. But "what can we forgive?" asks Officer Jim. Clearly, not everything. Yet the healing applications of magnolia bark suggest that forgiveness, when possible, salves the soul.

When the song "Save Me" comes on at the end, and we hear Aimee Mann asked to be saved "from the ranks of the freaks that suspect they can never love anyone," Claudia looks straight at the camera and finally, her face lights up with a smile. Jim is there, ready to be a guardian angel to her, as he was with Donnie. The sing-along is over. The clouds have parted. Everything will be okay. A perfect way to end.

• Condividi su Facebook
• Invia su Whatsapp
• Invia su Messenger

Magnolia: la spiegazione del film con Tom Cruise

Magnolia è un film simbolico, pieno di riferimenti biblici e non solo: una lunga metafora sulla vita e sul mondo che ci circonda.

Da Concetta Suriana - 21 Agosto 2018 18:00

Magnolia è uno di quei film che una volta visti non si scordano più. Sarà per il titolo, per la splendida performance di Tom Cruise nei panni di un presentatore TV che sfrutta le debolezze del suo pubblico, o ancora per la trama, così singolare e mozzafiato, nella quale vediamo le vite di nove persone diverse incontrarsi per un attimo o per più.

Magnolia è proprio così, un film mozzafiato che continua a far pensare a quello che è successo anche quando ormai il film è finito ed i titoli di coda scorrono uno dopo l’altro. I tre episodi che danno il via a Magnolia (omicidio, omicidio colposo e suicidio), infatti sono solo l’inizio di una lunga riflessione che culminerà con gli eventi finali del film e porterà lo spettatore a domandarsi quale sia il vero significato di quello che ha visto.

Non particolarmente apprezzato dalla critica, nonostante abbia ricevuto diverse nomination per regia, interpretazione e sceneggiatura, Magnolia è un film simbolico, pieno di riferimenti biblici e non solo: una lunga metafora sulla vita e sul mondo che ci circonda insomma, perfettamente realizzata da Paul Thomas Anderson e dagli attori del film, come Tom Cruise nei panni di  Frank T.J. Makey, Julianne Moore in quelli di Linda Patridge ed ancora Philip Seymour Hoffman (Phil Parma), John C. Reily (Jim Kurring) e William H. Macy (Donnie Smith).

Magnolia : il significato del film con Tom Cruise

Qual è però il vero significato di Magnolia ? Non è semplice definirlo. Le nove vite che si intrecciano all’interno delle vicende raccontate nel film portano   sullo schermo un ventaglio di vizi ed azioni riprovevoli che sono lo specchio della società contemporanea : invidia, lusso, arroganza, sono solo alcuni dei vizi che vediamo susseguirsi sullo schermo. Uno dopo l’altro ci mostrano i personaggi e sono i fili portanti delle loro vite fino alla fine del film.

Questo può essere il vero significato di Magnolia : un’esperienza di caduta verso il basso , verso i più brutali istinti ed azioni, che porta alla redenzione ed al pentimento. Simbolo di tutto questo è la pioggia di rane che cade dal cielo durante gli ultimi momenti del film. Un evento quasi normale per i personaggi di Magnolia , che dimostra come ormai l’uomo sia talmente assuefatto all’invidia ed all’avidità da non recepire più i segnali che arrivano dal Cielo. Una sorta di invasione biblica di cavallette, dalla quale però i personaggi non sembrano essere neanche scalfiti: è una cosa che accade, come tante, e poi passa. Nemmeno la paura o lo stupore possono scalfire le loro vite, rese così aride da una società che basa tutta l’esistenza su soldi, fama e riconoscimenti personali.

When you purchase through Movies Anywhere , we bring your favorite movies from your connected digital retailers together into one synced collection.   Join Now

Magnolia | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

• See Retailers

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

Magnolia is operatic in its ambition, a great, joyous leap into melodrama and coincidence, with ragged emotions, crimes and punishments, deathbed scenes, romantic dreams, generational turmoil and celestial intervention, all scored to insistent music.

Anderson has dared to make a movie that refuses to conceal its excesses, an amazing abundance of strong emotion, technical verve and pure performance power.

While not as fully realized as Anderson's last movie, Boogie Nights, Magnolia is filmed with the same skillful abandon, and takes many more artistic risks... The result is a movie as fascinating for its flaws as for its considerable successes.

It's a film of power, substance and superlative performances that challenges audiences. Hopefully, audiences will be up to taking that challenge.

Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson's frenzied follow-up to Boogie Nights, can be 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.

The film's structure is complicated, yet Anderson makes it look effortless. Completing the films emotional impact is the soundtrack of original songs by Aimee Mann.

Magnolia is the kind of material actors cherish, with bravura passages of emotional release and dialogue crackling with despair and a hint of ironic humor.

[A] sprawling, enthralling phantasmagoria.

Magnolia is ambitious. Ambitious and audacious in all the right ways. When it fails or falters, and these moments are few, the shortcomings are honorable.

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.

Additional Info

• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : December 17, 1999
• Languages : English
• Captions : English
• Audio Format : 5.1

You Might Also Like...

New Releases

Screen Rant

Magnolia: 10 quotes that will stick with us forever.

One of Paul Thomas Anderson's most iconic films, Magnolia, is a deep psychological drama with many layers. Here are the best quotes from the film.

Paul Thomas Anderson is renowned for his deep  psychological dramas that appeal to both the mind and the heart. They mix small-scale settings and grounded realism with the grandiose, the abstract, and the thought-provoking. One of his most iconic films,  Magnolia , certainly falls in line with these attributes.

RELATED: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Making Of Magnolia

It's an emotional tale that examines humanity through a mostly cynical lens, tugging at the heartstrings with its themes of love, forgiveness, and the search for meaning. Despite its minimalistic nature, the film exudes a frantic and grand feel by shifting between various figures - most of whom are troubled in some way. As one might expect from a nuanced psychological tale, it's chock-full of profound and interesting quotes.

"What Am I Doing? I'm Quietly Judging You."

The apparent "womanizer" known as Frank T.J. Mackey spends much of his story being interviewed about his origins and ideals behind his rather chauvinistic program "Seduce and Destroy." Deep into the conversation, the interviewer begins probing a bit deeper, asking for clarification about various details that Frank has kept quiet about.

After catching him in a lie regarding his history, Frank looks intensely perturbed and stares daggers at the woman. Following a question as to what he's doing, he responds with this amusing gem. It's a classic moment for both Frank as well as his actor, Tom Cruise .

"Life Ain't Short, It's Long!"

Serving as one of the many figures with an intertwined story - Frank's father, a former studio head named Earl, is on his death bed and spilling his emotional guts to the nurse, Phil. He breaks into quite an emotional sermon, wrought with regret and anguish, and laced with some elderly wisdom for Phil.

Amidst his speech, he utters this line, which, while brief, is a powerful character-defining moment and symbol of  Magnolia 's overarching themes.

"I Will Not Apologize For Who I Am. I Will Not Apologize For What I Need ..."

Getting back to the self-proclaimed macho man that is Frank Mackey, this quote is one among many that he states to the disciples of his "Seduce and Destroy" program. It's emblematic for his character in one sense, though it's also telling in its super emphatic delivery.

By this point in the film, Frank is becoming more introspective as he's being forced to reexamine his history - which he's clearly repressed - and reevaluate what he's doing. The way he makes this proclamation feels as though he's merely trying to convince  himself  of his place as a man who will "get what he wants" out of a woman.

"I'm Sick. I Have Sickness All Around Me And You Ask Me About My Life?"

While there's no shortage of great performances in  Magnolia , arguably the best  comes from Julianne Moore's raw, visceral portrayal of Earl's wife, Linda. Throughout the film, she must cope with the guilt of cheating on him and exploiting his wealth, while dealing with, as she puts it, "sickness all around me."   This is referring to both Earl's critical state, as well as her emotional torment during this moment.

RELATED: 10 Best Julianne Moore Movies (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

This outburst to a chatty pharmacist makes for one of the most memorable, intense scenes in the film. It becomes clear at this point that Linda is on the brink.

"A Man Of Genius Has Been Seldom Ruined But By Himself."

This is a peculiar one in that it's essentially a quote  of  a quote - specifically by the English writer, Samuel Johnson. Regardless, it's one of the more profound lines of dialogue spoken in the film. It's fittingly said to Donnie Smith, a former quiz show contestant whose brilliance has been marred by heavy drinking and anxiety.

Donnie Smith - along with the  current  champion of the game show, Stanley - represent a sort of wise and pure core amidst this otherwise chaotic, dark film. Donnie's story, which includes his parents taking his winnings and being struck by lightning, is a tragic one, punctuated by this line spoken by a patron at a bar he attends.

"I'm Gonna Teach You About The Worm ..."

Anderson sprinkles in some subtle, but prominent biblical themes and references in Magnolia . A prime example of this motif is spoken by way of a freestyle rap from a boy named Dixon. The rap ambiguously refers to "The Worm" as a sort of unforeseen, dark presence in the film, confirmed by the next line in his rap, when he says -  "he's running from the devil, but the debt is always gaining." 

The literal translation and significance are open to interpretation. Still, many have seen this as representative of the more malignant nature of humanity shown in Magnolia , and its parallels with biblical allegory. It also has a very prophetic tone to it - keeping in line with the film's portrayal of a child's inner wisdom.

"This Was Not Just A Matter Of Chance ..."

Anderson intrigues his audience right from the start of Magnolia , as viewers are shown a narrated collage of supposedly real events wrought with odd, eerie coincidences. It may seem segmented and unrelated to the film at large, but upon closer inspection, it actually parallels the array of intertwining characters, whom destiny is seemingly brought together in a separate, but collective journey towards peace and redemption.

RELATED: 10 Most Accurate Movies Based On True Events

This theme of "divine intervention," as it were, is reinforced by this statement from the unseen narrator.

"What Most People Don't See - Is Just How Hard It Is To Do The Right Thing."

In addition to some of the children featured, police officer Jim Kurring ( John C. Reilly ) is also representative of a more lighthearted voice of reason in  Magnolia . Rather than dealing with a dark past or trauma, he simply tries to do the right thing and desperately wants to be looked up to.

This line exemplifies Jim in a nutshell, as he spends much of the film interacting with the other more troubled characters, occasionally trying to steer them on the right path. The quote is in reference to Donnie's attempt to rob his place of business - though it could really apply to  most  of the figures in the film.

"It's A Dangerous Thing To Confuse Children With Angels."

Magnolia 's ongoing theme of kids representing goodness and wisdom is driven home with this line from the aforementioned bar patron.

The overarching nature of this message is apparent for just how out of place it is, and its lack of relevance to anything going on in the scene. It's one among many of Anderson's winks to the audience with regards to the underlying motifs of the film.

"... Maybe We Can Get Through All The Pi*s And Sh*t And Lies That Kill Other People."

One character unmentioned thus far may be  Magnolia 's most dynamic and intense - the daughter of a famous game show host, Claudia. She spends much of her story clearly trying to escape her troubled mind with loud music and drugs. She's seemingly endured much trauma, which the film implies resulted from sexual abuse by her father.

It's a dark and somber narrative, but one with a moderately happy ending, as she ends up with Jim, who brightens her spirits. She speaks this impactful line to Jim on a date, which is telling and relevant on a multitude of levels.

NEXT: 10 Movies That Influenced Paul Thomas Anderson

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• The First Omen Link to The First Omen
• The Beast Link to The Beast

New TV Tonight

• Chucky: Season 3
• Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• Dora: Season 1
• Good Times: Season 1
• Beacon 23: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Regime: Season 1
• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Ripley Link to Ripley
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

CinemaCon 2024: Day 1 – Godzilla and Anime Kick Off Studio Presentations

TV Premiere Dates 2024

• Trending on RT
• Play Movie Trivia

Steel Magnolias

1989, Comedy/Drama, 1h 58m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Steel Magnolias has jokes and characters to spare, which makes it more dangerous (and effective) when it goes for the full melodrama by the end. Read critic reviews

You might also like

Where to watch steel magnolias.

Rent Steel Magnolias on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV.

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified..

AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

Theater box office or somewhere else

By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Steel magnolias videos, steel magnolias   photos.

Six icons of the silver screen -- Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts -- come together in this hilarious and heartwarming story of life, love and loss in a small Louisiana parish. At the center of the group is Shelby, newly married and joyfully pregnant, even though her diabetes could make childbirth life-threatening. Terrified at the possibility of losing her only daughter, M'Lynn looks to her four closest friends for strength and laughter as she battles her deepest fear of death to join Shelby in celebrating the miracle of new life. A classic story of family, strength in women, and big southern hair, the big screen is the perfect way to experience the Magnolia's Louisiana charm and celebrate 35 years of Steel Magnolias.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Herbert Ross

Producer: Ray Stark

Writer: Robert Harling , Robert Harling

Release Date (Theaters): Nov 15, 1989  original

Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 5, 2024

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012

Box Office (Gross USA): $79.4M

Runtime: 1h 58m

Distributor: TriStar Pictures

Production Co: Rastar Films

Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo, Dolby

Aspect Ratio: 35mm

Cast & Crew

Sally Field

M'Lynn Eatenton

Dolly Parton

Truvy Jones

Shirley MacLaine

Ouiser Boudreaux

Daryl Hannah

Annelle Dupuy Desoto

Olympia Dukakis

Clairee Belcher

Julia Roberts

Shelby Eatenton Latcherie

Tom Skerritt

Drum Eatenton

Sam Shepard

Dylan McDermott

Jackson Latcherie

Kevin J. O'Connor

Sammy Desoto

Bill McCutcheon

Owen Jenkins

Herbert Ross

Robert Harling

Screenwriter

Andrew Stone

Associate Producer

Victoria White

Executive Producer

Georges Delerue

Original Music

John A. Alonzo

Cinematographer

Paul Hirsch

Film Editing

Hank McCann

Gene Callahan

Production Design

Edward Pisoni

Art Director

Michael Okowita

Garrett Lewis

Set Decoration

News & Interviews for Steel Magnolias

87 Fearless Women Movie Heroes Who Inspire Us

50 F–k Yeah Moments of Female Empowerment in the Movies

Definitive Julia Roberts Performances

Critic Reviews for Steel Magnolias

Audience reviews for steel magnolias.

This bittersweet drama has a very nice cast and deserves credit for making us laugh and cry at the same time even in its most melodramatic scenes, but the film's last seven minutes are simply awful and should have been excised from it without any mercy.

Moving film. This is Olympia Dukakis' best role. I love it more than my luggage!

Heartwarming! A must see!

As delightful as the female ensemble is, this movie uses a dramatic trick that cheapens it somewhat at the end. However, there are enough comic one-liners to make up for this. Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine are superb, and Dolly Parton is a natural. This is definitely a chick flick. It will make you cry, but it's not Terms of Endearment.

Movie & TV guides

Play Daily Tomato Movie Trivia

Discover What to Watch

Rotten Tomatoes Podcasts

• Condividi su Facebook
• Invia su Whatsapp
• Invia su Messenger

Magnolia: spiegazione del film di Paul Thomas Anderson con Tom Cruise

La pioggia di rane nel finale e le simbologie nel film di PTA con Tom Cruise

Da Anna Culotta - 14 Maggio 2022

Nonostante siano passati ormai più di vent’anni, Magnolia è uno di quei film che non perdono il loro fascino e che anzi, ad ogni visione, suscitano nuove domande e forniscono nuovi spunti . Premiato con l’Orso d’Oro al Festival di Berlino del 2000, il film scritto e diretto da Paul Thomas Anderson del 1999 intreccia le storie e le vite di nove personaggi prendendo il via da tre episodi: omicidio, omicidio colposo e suicidio. Intreccio che ha poco a che fare con la dimensione della coincidenza o del caso, pur ben presente nell’impianto narrativo. Un racconto sulla vita e sulla morte, un film denso di significati simbolici e metafora dell’esistenza e del mondo portata in scena attraverso le nove vite che si incrociano, coi loro vizi, a formare un complesso ritratto della società contemporanea.

Magnolia. Ghoulardi Film Company

Nel cast, accanto a Tom Cruise – in una delle sue migliori interpretazioni nel ruolo del motivatore cinico e corrotto Frank T.J. Mackie – anche Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeremy Blackman e William H. Macy . Ma qual è il significato di Magnolia ?

La pioggia di rane – Magnolia spiegazione finale

Difficile dare una spiegazione univoca: sarebbe più corretto parlare di interpretazione del significato simbolico del film di Paul Thomas Anderson. Magnolia vuol essere la rappresentazione di una discesa verso gli abissi più profondi dell’animo umano ; abissi colmi di vizi, rappresentati attraverso la messa in scena di alcuni dei peccati capitali (personificati, potremmo dire, tramite i personaggi) di biblica memoria. Una discesa negli abissi che culmina con una – altrettanto simbolica – pioggia di rane che, semplicemente , succede.

I personaggi di Magnolia non sembrano più di tanto colpiti o impressionati da un evento che richiama la biblica invasione delle cavallette; sono troppo presi dalle loro miserie e dalle loro sofferenze per darvi peso. Troppo preda delle loro ambizioni tutte concentrate nella sfera della fama, dell’affermazione personale, del denaro, per dar peso a un evento che è sì straordinario, ma passeggero, come tanti altri. C’è tuttavia una spinta verso la redenzione, verso un tentativo di purificazione , verso una presa di coscienza che scuota tutti dal sentimento dell’odio, del rancore e del rimpianto. Piovono rane e i personaggi di Magnolia sono costretti a sottoporsi a un esame di coscienza sconvolgente ed ecco che clima si fa in qualche modo meno teso, il cielo più terso. Arriva la catarsi e, insieme ad essa, la spinta propulsiva per provare a liberarsi dalle proprie sofferenze.

Articoli correlati

5 miniserie thriller brevi da vedere su Netflix in un week end

Avete amato Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House? Recuperate questi due film su Amazon Prime Video

Il problema dei 3 corpi: 5 titoli simili da vedere subito se avete amato la serie Netflix

I migliori film da vedere al cinema ad aprile

I 5 migliori film da vedere ora su Netflix

I 5 migliori film da vedere ora su Amazon Prime Video

Lascia un commento Annulla risposta

Il tuo indirizzo email non sarà pubblicato. I campi obbligatori sono contrassegnati *

Salva il mio nome, email e sito web in questo browser per la prossima volta che commento.

• Tickets & Showtimes
• Trending on RT

The More Tom Cruise Runs, The Better His Movies Are: We Did the Math

We dove deep into the tomatometer (and box office) data and discovered that tom cruise films with more running tend to earn more accolades..

TAGGED AS: Action , blockbusters , movies , Summer

Tom Cruise has sprinted a little over 29,961 feet on screen throughout his 37 years in the movies, and with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One currently in theaters, the numbers on his cinematic pedometer have gone up. His tendency to run — a lot ­— in his 44 films has become a thing of legend; online, you’ll find 19-minute video supercuts of his sprints and style breakdowns that note his stellar form: eyes forward, elbows sharp, feet a blur. But does all that running make for better movies? That’s what we’ve investigated here, comparing the amount of running Tom does in movies to the amount of money Tom’s movies make and the amount of Freshness they score on the Tomatometer.

The methodology was simple, if time-consuming. We counted every instance of Cruise’s running on screen, in seconds, and then calculated the distances run by assuming he is clocking a six-minute mile (14.6 feet per second). The result is a list of estimated distances for each film that we believe is the most solid you’ll find in the online canon of Tom Cruise Running Materials. We then split his movies into four different distance categories, ranging from Zero Feet all the way to 1,000-Plus Feet, to spot the trends.

The biggest trend? Movies featuring Cruise running more than 1,000 feet have a higher Tomatometer average (a huge 76%) than the movies in which he runs less than that, or not at all — and the same movies make more money at the box office, with an average inflated international gross of $472 million. We also found that the age-defying star has been increasing his movie running as he gets older: he covered almost the same amount of ground in 2006’s Mission: Impossible III (3,212 feet) as he did in the entirety of the 1980s (12 movies, 3,299 feet run), and five of his top 10 running films were released after 2010 – the year he turned 48.

You can find Cruise’s 10 biggest movies, according to how many feet he ran in them, at the bottom of this piece, but for now let’s dig into the data, one sweaty category at a time.

[Updated 7/20/2023]

When Tom Doesn’t Run At All (0 feet)

• International Box Office Average: $113 million
• Tomatometer Average: 59.2%

Magnolia (1999) | Lions for Lambs (2007) | Tropic Thunder (2008) | Valkyrie (2008) |  Rock of Ages (2012)

When Tom stands still (or just dances and/or paces across a stage), he can give very good supporting performances: think Tropic Thunder and Magnolia . He doesn’t cover much ground in these movies, but he does run away with off-brand appearances as chauvinistic alpha-males who built empires by essentially becoming evil versions of Tom Cruise. Ever wondered if Maverick could deliver expletive-filled monologues or dance convincingly to a Ludacris song? Look no further than these two tragically sprint-free R-rated treasures.

It’s no surprise that this category has the lowest box-office numbers — zero running suggests little action, the lifeblood of most box office-destroying blockbusters. Also, there is a high-risk, high-reward element for Cruise when he messes with his onscreen persona and plays against his action archetype. The rewards are Oscar and Golden Globe noms, but the risks are smaller financial returns — Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie  (in which he resists the urge to run, even as bombs go off) were Cruise’s lowest domestic grossers of the 2000s.

When Tom Takes a Short Sprint (1-500 feet)

• International Box Office Average: $164 million
• Tomatometer Average: 61.4%

Endless Love (1981) | Taps (1981) | Losin’ It (1983) | The Outsiders (1983) | Risky Business (1983) | Legend (1985) | Top Gun (1986) | The Color on Money (1986) | Rain Man (1988) | Cocktail (1988) | Days of Thunder (1990) | A Few Good Men (1992) | Far and Away (1992) | Interview With the Vampire (1994) | Jerry Maguire (1996) | Eyes Wide Shut (1999) | The Last Samurai (2003) |   Jack Reacher (2012) | American Made (2017)

Almost half of the 44 Cruise movies we analyzed fall into this category of “Some Running, But Not a Ton,” and it’s worth nothing that 80% of these movies were released in the 1980s and 1990s. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that Cruise really hit his stride, not coincidentally at around the time the Mission: Impossible  series kicked off. Pre-1996, it was mostly light jogging and moments of panicked sprinting in movies like Endless Love (43 feet) and Losin’ It (102 feet) . Nobody panic-sprints like Running Tom Cruise.

It was in 1996 that we got one of our most iconic non–action movie Tom Cruise Running scenes, as he dashes through the empty airport in Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire . Most sport agents you probably know — because you know so many, right? — would huff and puff during a late-night airport dash like that, but Jerry looks effortless as he strides like a gazelle through the terminal. Tom, you had us at ready, set, hello.

This set of films cumulatively has the lowest Tomatometer average, showing that while we like Tom Cruise running, it cannot be a jaunt. The critics demand commitment.

When Tom Goes Middle-Distance (501-1,000 feet)

• Inflated International Box Office Average: $413 million
• Tomatometer Average: 66.7%

All the Right Moves (1983) | Born on the Fourth of July (1989) | Mission: Impossible (1996) | Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) | Vanilla Sky (2001) | Collateral (2004) | Knight and Day (2010) | Oblivion (2013) |  Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Another great moment of 1996 Tom Cruise Running came with the franchise-spawning smash Mission: Impossible. The Brian De Palma-helmed thriller really set the pace for Cruise’s days of thunderous running. Remember the moment when Ethan Hunt uses explosive gum to blow a hole in a restaurant fish tank to escape his would-be captors — on foot ? We do, along with every other one of the 730 feet he ran in the film.

Five years later, another important milestone in Cruise’s running career came with Vanilla Sky. The film marked his second collaboration with Cameron Crowe, and they celebrated their sophomore adventure with a longer and more complicated bit of running than we’d seen in their first effort: the Vanilla Sky production team shut down Times Square to create an eerily empty track meet for Cruise (the movie features a total of 832 feet of running). The film wasn’t as financially successful as Jerry Maguire (it made $203.3 million internationally), but we almost have to give Crowe bonus points for realizing the potential of giving Running Tom Cruise longer, bouncier locks.

Overall, a few bombs – Knight and Day , Oblivion – drive down this category’s Tomatometer, which includes some of Cruise’s most iconic, and acclaimed performances ( M:I , All the Right Moves , Collateral ).

When Tom Goes Full Tom (1,001-plus feet)

• International Box Office Average: $472 million
• Tomatometer Average: 76%

The Firm (1993) | Minority Report (2002) | War of the Worlds (2005) | Mission: Impossible III (2006) | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) | Edge of Tomorrow (2014) | Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) | The Mummy (2017) | Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023)

The older Tom gets, the farther he runs, and the better his movies seem to be. Nine of the 10 movies in this longest-distance grouping were released after 2002, and six of them were released after 2010 ( The Firm  is the only pre-2002 outlier). It was 2002’s Steven Spielberg-directed Minority Report that ushered in the 1,000-plus feet era (1,562 feet run), and trainer/director Spielberg upped the punishing routine in the 2005 blockbuster War of the Worlds (1,752 feet). Watching Cruise evade aliens while thousands of slower non-Tom Cruises were turned into dust was impressive, but not surprising: Cruise’s indefatigable onscreen cardio had built up over five decades, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

After War of the Worlds, Cruise reached a personal best in Mission: Impossible 3, which saw him running 3,212 feet, most of which were covered in some insane displays of athleticism (and Herculean camera work) through Shanghai. His movies since — like Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2,628 feet), Edge of Tomorrow (1,022 feet), and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (1,518 feet) — have crossed the 1,000-foot mark, but they haven’t managed the wild lengths of his 2000s movies. Only Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol could match those films’ step counts and box office success with 3,000-plus feet of running and a $695 million international gross.

The biggest snags in the More Running = Better Movies formula are Jack Reacher: Never Look Back and The Mummy. Both films featured abundant running (1,051 feet and 1,022 feet respectively), but both had unspectacular box office returns ($159 million and $410 million internationally) and critical receptions (Tomatometer scores of 38% and 15%).

In other words, more running = more money and more Freshness, but only most of the time.

Top Tom Cruise Movies (According to his pedometer)

• Mission: Impossible III  – 3,212 feet
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol –  3,066 feet
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout   – 2,628 feet
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One   – 2,131 feet
• War of the Worlds –  1,752 feet
• Minority Report –  1,562 feet
• Mission Impossible –   Rogue Nation – 1,518 feet
• The Firm –  1,241 feet
• Edge of Tomorrow –  1,065 feet
• Jack Reacher:   Never Go Back –  1,051 feet

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One is currently in theaters.

On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News.

Related News

CinemaCon 2024: Day 1 – Godzilla and Anime Kick Off Studio Presentations

Weekend Box Office Results: Godzilla x Kong Holds Strong

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

TV Premiere Dates 2024

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

Movie & TV News

Featured on rt.

April 9, 2024

April 8, 2024

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

Top Headlines

• Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now –
• 25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming –
• 30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming –
• Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch –
• Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year –
• Best TV Shows of 2024: Best New Series to Watch Now –