Saturday Night at Chess Cinemas

Magnolia (1999) is one of the better films in the prominent genre, one which has been popularized in recent decades, of ensemble casts and interweaving storylines. This is a quirky one, but the cast is top-notch, headlined by Tom Cruise (as the memorable Frank T.J. Mackey, pictured above), Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

via imdb.com:

24 hours in L.A.; it’s raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge’s son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator’s daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl’s young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations. The weather, too, is quirky.