The Master Review

The Master is a drama film that was released back in late 2012. I was actually super excited for this movie going into 2012, and I was not disappointed. I meant to see it upon its release but it was in theaters for less than a month and I missed it. I then planned it on seeing it in the dollar theater but it was there for only three weeks and I missed it again. I've spent the last couple of months trying to find it online but I only found a good quality version recently. The film is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, his previous film was There Will be Blood (which I put as the third best movie of the 21'st century). The Master stars the returning Joaquin Phoenix who plays an alcoholic sex attic war veteran named Freddie Quell. The movie starts off at the end of World War 2 when Freddie is still in the navy. After the war is over Freddie has some trouble adjusting to regular life. His first job back is taking high quality photos at a mall. He is fired after assaulting a customer. He then finds himself working on a cabbage farm where he is chased away after the other workers believe that he poisoned someone with his home made moonshine. Down on his luck he ends up walking by the bay where he sees a docked boat with a party going on, he jumps on and joins in the fun. The next day he is taken to the captain Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Lancaster is an odd one; he's a writer who claims to be a doctor, a theoretical physicist, and a philosopher. Lancaster likes Freddie and takes him under his wing. Freddie soon learns many things about Lancaster, many of them he's not sure on. Lancaster has started what appears to be his own religion where he believes in reincarnation, time travel, and evolution of the human mind by elevating our psyche. And for many years Freddie follows Lancaster for many years but always asking himself what's real and what is being made up as he goes. The Master is a brilliant film; I place it as the 12'th best film of 2012. The most interesting aspect of this movie is the subject matter. While the director never said it, the religion in the movie seems to be based off Scientology  The similarities between Lancaster and the founder of Scientology also seem related. What really elevates this movie is the stupendous acting. Joaquin Phoenix puts on the performance of his life and one of the best of the year. To be honest Joaquin is crazy in real life so that probably help with his character that is also kind of a nut. If it weren't for one Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis, he'd have a good shot at the Oscar. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a fantastic actor; he even won an Oscar a couple years back. And being nominated again this year I'd say you can't look past him. The film is also beautifying shot; Paul Thomas Anderson always manages to find great cinematographers for his movies. I only have two problems with this movie; the first is that it is confusing. Even at the end you're not sure what you just watched. The other problem is that it gets very slow in places, it almost comes to a crawl in some scenes. Compared to There Will be Blood, the Master isn't as interesting or gripping. Those two problems aside I do believe this is a great movie. This is one of those love it or hate it movies, personally I loved it but I see why others wouldn't. I'd suggest others watch it just for the experience. 4/5