The Master

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, Ambyr Childers
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A WWII Veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) befriends a charismatic scientist (Philip Seymour Hoffman) selling his strange new belief system.

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Thomas has created some unforgettable movies, and he assembled an impressive cast for this story about a Scientology-like religion. I expected this to be one of the better movies of 2012. Unfortunately, this movie was a major disappointment. It is incredibly inaccessible, unless you're willing to commit to multiple viewings and hours of deep thought about what is shown on screen. I know that hundreds of critics heaped lots of love on this film, but I truly wonder how many of them liked the movie deep down. You can make all the claims you want about the artistic merit of this film and not "pandering to the audience", but I believe those are excuses for a film that will not connect with the vast majority of audiences.

Here's my biggest complaint- I took almost nothing from this movie. The reason I watch films is because every film changes the viewer- there's something you can learn, something you can take away from the viewing experience to make yourself better. With a movie like The Master, you would expect to reap quite a few benefits. Unfortunately, the film is so dense and opaque that it was impossible for me to take much from it. I spent the majority of the film wondering, "What the hell is going on?" and "What is the point of all this?" I understand Anderson purposely tried to create a challenging film for viewers, but he misjudged the attempt. This whole movie came across as a pretentious effort by Anderson to appear brilliant, sophisticated, and "above" mainstream audiences. I was really turned off by his approach to this film. Lots of people claimed they loved this movie, but many of those people are posers. That is partially why this film was nominated for only 3 Academy Awards, and not surprisingly, won zero.

I don't want to be totally negative- the biggest reason to watch this movie is the cast. It is impressive. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a very good actor, and he gives a very strong performance here. He's wonderfully charismatic as the founder of some belief system (I honestly can't tell you much more than that, because I did not understand most of what it was- thanks, Anderson). He has a dark streak as well, and that made for a very interesting character. Hoffman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and he deserved the nomination. His partner in the film is played wonderfully by Joaquin Phoenix. I'm glad he is getting back to serious acting, because the guy is just incredible. I loved his mannerisms and how he created this off-balance, hard-to-grasp character. I can't say I particularly liked the character, but he was incredible to watch on screen. Phoenix did masterful work here, and I'm glad he was nominated for Best Actor. Finally, we have Amy Adams. I really like Adams, but I feel like she rode on the coattails of her costars. I remember almost nothing about her character- she had a few fiery moments on screen, but her character was underdeveloped. She needed more screen time. However, she somehow managed to snag a Best Supporting Actress nomination out of it. Like I said- I really like Adams, but I am glad she didn't win for this performance. I feel like she got too much credit for her role here.

I was really disappointed with The Master. I get that there are deeper layers here, multiple meanings, symbols, and all that. The problem is that this long (144 minutes, are you kidding me?), plodding film gave me no reason to invest any more time in it. I simply wanted nothing more to do with this film when it was over. Anderson came across as full of himself, smug in his creation of this "beautiful" film that was more confusing than anything else. In his attempt to create a masterpiece, the message is blunted. I know that critics fell all over themselves to praise this film, but outside of the acting, I found this to be a bland, hopeless dense, forgettable film. Very few people will call out the crap when they see it, but for me, I couldn't help but speak up. This is not the film we deserved.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Magnolia, There Will Be Blood