'Boogie Nights' actors shine in 'Magnolia' By CHRISTY LEMIRE Associated Press Writer It seems impossible that Paul Thomas Anderson could follow up "Boogie Nights" with a movie as stirring and memorable. But just watch him. "Magnolia" is overwhelming and easily one of the best films of the year. Yes, it is long, clocking in at about three hours, and the story line meanders. Trying to describe the plot wouldn't do it justice and would steal the surprises in store. Let's just say. "Magnolia" is about people - how their lives intersect, how they treat each other and how they cannot escape their pasts, no matter how hard they try. Much of what makes the film so enjoyable is that Anderson has brought back many of the actors from "Boogie Nights," including Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Philip Baker Hall and Luis Guzman. Watching them interact again in different roles under Anderson's same deft direction and writing is a joy. The film takes place during one day in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, where Anderson grew up during the 1970s and where he also set "Boogie Nights.' His Valley is not that of "Valley Girl" or "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." There are no montages of fabulous-looking blondes shopping, popping their gum and cruising in convertibles. Instead, the settings and characters all seem very real and often bleak, and Anderson has developed them expertly. The performances are all so strong, it's hard to single out just a few. There's: -A man on his death bed, played with poignancy and heart by Jason Robards. -A powerful, emotional Moore as his much younger wife, both high-strung and strung out as she copes with the' cancer that quickly consumes him. -Hoffman with a quietly moving performance as his at-home nurse. After playing a drag queen in "Flawless," here he shows real Movie Review versatility, conveying a great deal of feeling with a subtle gesture. -Hall as an aging game show host, adored by millions nationwide but hated by his only daughter. -Walters, filled with a raw intensity as his coke-fiend daughter in desperate need of selfesteem. In many ways, she is the heart of this movie. -Macy as an electronics salesman, still trying to milk his celebrity as a quiz show whiz kid 30 years ago. He's full of sweaty desperation and longing. - Jeremy Blackman as the new generation of kid genius. He shows tremendous poise and presence behind his big blue eyes, and it's hard to believe this is his first major film role. -Reilly, who provides comic relief: as a bumbling L.A. pol officer who falls in love with Walters' character. And then there's Tom Cruise as Robards' estranged son, who has changed his name and become a famous self-help guru who teaches men how to seduce and abandon women. With his infomercials and seminars, he's the Tony Robbins of sex. He's completely offensive and misogynistic and impossible to stop watching. This is perhaps the best we've ever seen him - infinitely better than his work earlier this year in "Eyes Wide Shut." Although the characters' lives are intertwined and they live in one of the biggest cities in the world, there's a sense of isolation about all of them. They are surrounded by people and yet they are hopelessly alone. Keeping these numerous and varied characters in synch with one another is one of the most impressive aspects of Anderson's craft. They follow a pattern of highs and lows everyone is manic at the same time, everyone is despondent at the same time, everyone reaches a moment of truth at the same time. The film's structure is complicated, yet Anderson makes it look effortless. Completing the film's emotional impact is the soundtrack of original songs by Aimee Mann, formerly of 'Til Tuesday. They will stay with you long after you've risen stiffly from your seat, stretched and staggered in an awestruck daze from the theater.