magnolia present itself a a wall to wall canvas of scream and shriek and overwrought and hysterical twit who be all bedevil by regret and guilt and pain . pt anderson be certainly a gifted filmmaker but perhaps he should leave the writing to someone else or at least find someone with the ball to tell him he need to edit this overlong mess . a look at the cast will tell you that the performance be excellent and and they be . i just wish that every scene do not involve an over the top shouting match or long digression into the sin that have be commit and the pain that they have cause . i also think that anderson fail miserably to create a story that parallel the bizarre tableau that open the film . the opening sequence be wonderful in show how fate can bring together people and circumstance that even the most optimistic believer in a cosmic puppeteer pull our string would scoff at . but the story that then develop lack any of the stuff that these opening fable display . i keep wait for some form of cosmic convergence to display itself and but instead all we get be wave of regret from morally challenge character who see their past spread out before them and now seek absolution . throw in an out of left field biblical plague near the end and all you end up with be a cadre of anderson devotee who will marvel at his genius when all it really prove be that he have actually read the old testament . i will say that the music by aimee mann be great and i will be look for the soundtrack cd . in short and a good movie to look at and listen to ( the music and that be ) if the actor would have shut up or tone it down it may have be .