The Master (2012)
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The Master Movie Review
The Master is a 2012 psychological drama film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. It’s a thematically rich, but boring movie.
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“If you figure a way to live without serving a master,
any master, then let the rest of us know, will you?
For you’d be the first person in the history of the world“
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Freddie, a World War II veteran, is unable to deal with the post-war society. However, when he comes across a religious movement known as The Cause, he finds solace in it. This is such a screenplay that deals with the dangers of cults and cult leaders while in particular focusing on the animalistic versus the human within each and every one of us and how that conflict ultimately leads to spirituality as a savior for many.
All of these themes are very interesting to me, especially the aforementioned conflict within all humans. Then why did I not care for this film when it’s so intriguingly complex and thought-provoking? That’s because of one person and one person only – Paul Thomas Anderson. I am not a fan of his and I still struggle with his cinematic output.
His involvement here entirely tarnished what otherwise would have been incredible material in some other more competent director’s hands. He directed the movie in such a pretentious, frustratingly tedious manner that the end result is a film that is vapid, slow and boring. Whenever we get a sequence fueled by excellent discussions about faith, human nature or anything interesting really, we get a transition into some pointless scene where characters are just staring at emptiness or walking around doing nothing.
It’s the type of filmmaking that I honestly despise. And that is what characterizes PTA works – utterly ostentatious approach at storytelling. The movie is over two hours long and most of it is devoted to unnecessary padding and tiring character study that is not really character study, but faux artistry at its worst.
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The Master is a three-actor showcase. Each one of these actors delivered terrific, deservedly Oscar-nominated performances. Amy Adams got the minutest role, but she delivered a great performance as is expected of her, thus elevating her role successfully. Joaquin Phoenix was perfectly cast and this is one of his best roles where he showed the most range.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has also rarely been better than he was here and it was interesting witnessing the two’s differing acting approaches and how well they worked against one another. Hoffman is the standout here in my opinion and some of his scenes are electrifying. The homoerotic tendency to the scenes starring these two made those moments puzzlingly complex. Their dynamic is unlike nothing else out there and it’s a shame that the movie did not introduce any kind of message in regards to their relationship.
That is the problem with this movie – it has all of these interesting themes, but it ends up doing nothing with them of true essence. Admittedly, the cinematography in The Master is very strong and some shots and takes are gorgeously composed. The score is particularly effective at accompanying the various tones and emotions on display. However, the editing is a total mess and the movie’s pacing is so atrociously sluggish that it robbed the film of any momentum that it possibly could have garnered had it had better directing and editing.
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The Master’s screenplay is brilliant. This is a film that examines the dangers of cult and cult leaders, the conflict between the animalistic and the human in every one of us, and how religion functions as a “savior” in those conflicting emotions. The central dynamic between Hoffman’s and Phoenix’s characters is also powerful in its puzzling nature. The acting is terrific across the board. With that being said, I really did not care for this movie and that is because of the man who made this. Had any other director tackled this material, it could and quite possibly would have been amazing. But in the insufferable hands of PTA, The Master ended up being vapid, meandering, slow, boring and more pretentious than sophisticated. He is the type of person that tarnishes everything that he touches, which is unfortunately exactly what happened in this instance.
My Rating – 3.5
