Early on “The Master” received a lot of Oscar buzz. Stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman went head-to-head at the 2006 Academy Awards and Hoffman won. This year they were nominated again, in separate categories, and neither won. Outside of these two strong performances, “The Master” is a bit of a mess and clearly one of the most over-rated films of 2012.
The time is 1950. World War II is over, and Freddie (a marine – played by Phoenix) now must return back to regular life. He gets a job as a shopping mall photographer, but that doesn’t go too well as Freddie is a drunk who’s obsessed with women and incredibly unstable. One night he stumbles onto a boat and passes-out.
The next morning he meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman). He’s a writer and a philosopher who has a different idea on where humans came from and where we go when we die. Dodd has a group of loyal followers (led by his wife, played by Amy Adams) and he also has plenty of enemies, who believe he’s a dangerous cult leader. Dodd decides to let Freddie join his group – “The Cause” – as his personal bartender. They become fast friends and soon Dodd decides to try to use his powers to try to help Freddie, so he can function better in the world.
“The Master” is 2 hours and 15 minutes, but it only has about an hour’s worth of story in it. For me, it just doesn’t work. The pacing is incredibly slow – every single scene could’ve been cut in half. And in the end there really is no point. I sat there watching it, waiting for something to happen – and after awhile I didn’t care if it was good or bad, I just wanted SOMETHING!
What doesn’t help is the constantly annoying score and the use by writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) of extreme close-ups. Honestly, I don’t know what he was trying to get across with “The Master”. There are a couple of great scenes, that momentarily bring the film to life, but then it’s back to 30-more painfully dull minutes. If the script had gone even deeper into the controversial aspects of Dodd (who is allegedly based on Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard) it would’ve been a much better, more interesting film.
However, there is one reason to see “The Master” and it’s for Hoffman and Phoenix’s performances. For me, Hoffman’s is the better of the two. Since the story is so unappealing I found myself simply watching Hoffman do his thing. And he is “masterful”. Phoenix also has some good moments, but the problem with his character is that he NEVER grows or changes throughout the film. It’s a classic one-note performance. Adams’ role wasn’t substantial enough to finally win her that first Oscar (she’s been nominated three times). But the Academy likes her so this could secure her a fourth nomination.
“The Master” is rated R for adult language and content. It’s appropriate for mid-teens and up. But it’s tough to recommend because of it’s incredibly slow pace and lack of a payoff. In the end – what do we learn about these characters? Nothing. What do we learn about “The Cause”? Nothing.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Master” gets a C-.
Maybe Anderson’s plan was to use the endless brainwashing scenes to try to trick his audiences into believing that this is a great film. Fortunately, it didn’t work on me.