The Master

[boltthrow]

EDIT:

I haven't seen Tree Of Life but from what I gather, both Malick and Anderson seem to be bored with traditional storytelling and want to do something else.  I guess whatever that is doesn't resonate that much with me.  I certainly wasn't pulled into The Thin Red Line very much because it never seemed to amount to enough that I could understand or enjoy (beyond, similarly, some amazing visuals).  I vastly enjoyed their earlier more narrative-based films (Days of Heaven, Boogie Nights) more than their later ones because back then they were cohesive AND hauntingly more.  But they both seemed to have moved on to more atmospherics and less narrative sense. 

If this review is right, then I guess I did glean what was to be gleaned from The Master.

The Master
2.5 stars
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
Rated R

Ask any critic who assigns star ratings to their reviews and they'll tell you that sometimes, even in this Rotten Tomatoes world, a movie defies the cut-and-dry, fresh-or-rotten dichotomy.

"The Master," the new film from Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood"), is the perfect example of a movie that transcends simple categorization. It's an impressive feat of filmmaking, brilliantly acted and handsomely captured on the larger-than-life 70mm format. Anderson creates a trance-like rhythm, filling the movie with unbroken shots and lengthy scenes that immerse you in the cult-like world of the religious group at its center.

But at the same time, the movie is such an opaque, emotionless enterprise that it's a chore to sit through. Joaquin Phoenix returns to the screen as Freddie Quell, a Navy veteran struggling in post-WWII California. He has trouble holding down a job and seems altogether aimless, until a late night of wandering leads him to a boat owned by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a doctor/philosopher/author and founder of The Cause, a burgeoning pseudoreligion.

Despite Phoenix's visceral performance as Freddie, a work filled with wounded sadness and blinding rage, the film unfolds in an abstract haze that keeps you at a remove. Anderson simply refuses to indulge some basic storytelling impulses, abstaining from catharsis and rejecting bold dramatic developments in favor of a sort of dulling repetitiveness. There's a stillness to "The Master," enhanced by its dreamlike visual blend of one-point perspective imagery, stark close-ups and shots of drifting, rolling waves. That's an admirable motif, but it makes the movie feel a bit like a feature length version of one of The Cause's "processing" therapy sessions, in which the same questions or behaviors are repeated over and over again, with slightly different results.

Of course, the movie's had no trouble drumming up publicity. It's partially inspired by Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard, who is clearly being channeled by Hoffman's Dodd. But viewers seeking some sort of incendiary expose will be disappointed. Anderson is far more interested in exploring the turmoil of displacement and the ways it draws out the fundamental truth that man at his core is ruled by his emotions, not his capacity for reason.

That's a strange notion for such a coldhearted movie but it perfectly sums up the conundrum that is "The Master."

[strangelight]

i really liked the master. a lot.

now, disclaimer: i'm a big fan of non-linear storytelling and i tend to gravitate towards character development over plot and narrative (in film and literature). crime and punishment's my favourite book, and that's thousands of pages about a 3-day story with a pretty simple plot. so i'm predisposed to be into this kinda thing anyway. (i loved the thin red line too, although it's been ages since i've seen it).

i thought it was so beautifully filmed. phoenix was really incredible and captivating and heartbreaking. PSH was great too and that final scene, where he's singing to freddy as he tells him to get the fuck out, was pretty amazing. it could've come off so goofy, but instead it was heartbreaking and tense and even a little homoerotic. just really well done. and the score. normally i don't gush about a film score, but jonny greenwood is so damn good at using music to telegraph a character's emotions. his score doesn't set the emotional tone for the audience, it sets the emotional tone for the characters. i dunno if i said that in a way that makes sense, but whatever. it was good.

there's no plot, so don't try to look for one. it's just a really intense, sad character piece. with some occasional titties.

i don't know how i feel about amy adams. i thought she was fine in the role, but as i watched, i kept thinking "it's amy adams." there was nothing really transformative about the way she played the role.

[boltthrow]

I kept thinking "it's Lady Macbeth."

[sludgelord3000]

Great performances, Joaquin Phoenix especially, but it played like a bunch of acting exercises. It was like listening to Yngwie Malmsteen run scales; sounds amazing, but where's the song?

And no I'm not one of those folks who needs a traditional narrative or even narrative at all to get my cock hard. But this movie had me at half mast the whole time. I kept waiting for that spritz of lube and cup of the balls to push me over the edge but it never came, thus neither did I.

It was like a Judd Apatow/Todd Philips bromance comedy without the jokes or plot. The wacky psychopath and the wacky shyster cult leader drink sterno and get into wacky high seas adventures. Oh man, what did we do last night? And where did this baby come from? Oh shit a tiger! They love each other but it's totally NOHOMO. Plus there's boobs. The gag reel under the credits consists of I'm Still Here in its entirety.

[HORNS]

Sludge you have outdone yourself with that review. I've already quoted it to two or three friends. Spot on.

[RAGER]

saw this last night.  I enjoyed it.  no stretch of acting for Hoffman at all.  pretty much the same character he plays but I like that.  It's crazy that phoenix is 6 years my junior and looks at least 12 years my senior.  A pretty good performance.  Especially for a hairlip.

[MadJohnShaft]

HORNS plagiarizes what we type