THE MASTER

The Master (2012)
Grade: D
Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, Jesse Plemons and Laura Dern
PREMISE: A war veteran suffering from alcohol addiction and mental illness falls in with the wealthy intellectual who runs a cult and potentially offers a new way of life.

Rated R for Strong Sexual Content (including Graphic Nudity and Graphic Sex-Related Dialogue), Language, and Intense Emotional Content

If you've never heard of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master before this review, let me assure you you will hear of it again. Later this fall, and throughout the winter, this film will undoubtedly be in the discussion for many year-end awards, including Oscars. It will almost certainly be (not without reason) in the race for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, and will likely be talked about as a contender for other top prizes including Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. After all, writer/director Anderson's offbeat films (1998's Boogie Nights, 1999's Magnolia, 2007's There Will Be Blood) have long been pulls to the Academy's outre, quirky-is-good tastes.

Which is a shame, quite frankly. Oh, the acting is good (and I will gush a little bit about stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman a little bit later on), there are some memorable images, the cinematography is impressive, and certain set pieces are so involving that it takes a while for dissatisfaction with this film to grow, but, when it does, it stays. That's because The Master, an entirely original film that is intended, no doubt, to double as a commentary, a jab, and, possibly, a partially autobiographical account, is a half-story. The movie starts, the characters are established, the relationships are established, and then it all falls apart....for no actual, clear reason. All of a sudden, people who have accepted the hapless main character reject him with such venom that he falls back into loneliness and despair, and no reason is given. Oh, some are implied, but none are really given! And that's devastating for a film that, despite its oddness, draws you in. It's a nasty tease--presenting a well-acted, thought-provoking movie that's pretty to look at, but cheating the audience out of a real satisfying experience, or even a very complete one.

Oh, but, of course, that's "art". The Master will be around the end-of-year awards circuit because it's "art", and those of us who just don't get it aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate the "artistry". Right.

Plot: After fighting the Japanese in the Pacific campaign of World War II, impulsive, addictive Freddie Quell (Phoenix, powerful) becomes a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's not wanted at home. He has nowhere to go. He begins a series of lowly jobs, whether it's as a portrait-taker at a mall studio or a cabbage farmer out west. His pitifully-poor choices and reliance on alcohol betray him at every turn. Forced to flee his farming job after allegedly poisoning a coworker, Quell sneaks onto a fancy yacht headed for the open sea, on which a festive party is taking place. Discovered after drinking and making a scene, he comes face to face with the man financing the voyage, Lancaster Dodd (the electrifying Hoffman), a husband and father and a doctor who has recently written a book about a movement he's started, "The Cause", a mix of Pantheism and Scientology that brings all beings together throughout all time, going back (possibly) before the creation of the earth. The Cause stresses patience and meditation as the keys to overcoming one's animalistic impulses. Allegedly.

Something in the disturbed, broken Freddie inspires Dodd, who begins writing again and takes him in, where he rubs shoulders with Dodd's sharp-tongued wife (Amy Adams), promiscuous newlywed daughter (Ambyr Childers), jealous son-in-law (Rami Malek) and skeptical lookalike son (Jesse Plemons). While Freddie doesn't take to The Cause very easily (his dependence on alcohol and impulsiveness-and, possibly, inherent psychosis-make that impossible) he nonetheless finds something in these people, particularly the wise, fatherly Dodd. But the rituals keep getting weirder and weirder. The practices keep going farther and farther afield. It is discovered that Dodd faked his doctor's credentials. People begin turning their backs on Freddie for his refusal to give up drinking. Dodd's second book is so far afield that is alienates even some of his most dedicated followers. And, somehow, Freddie is seen as the problem.

What Doesn't Work?
First of all, the movie doesn't come out and say anything directly. What inspired Dodd to create The Cause isn't known, the "help" The Cause gives people isn't revealed, any real motives for the people to reject Freddie aren't given, and the film keeps presenting The Cause and its practices as weirder and more foolhardly simply-it seems-because Anderson wanted it that way. Is this film meant to be a stab at Scientology? Probably. Is it meant to be a stab at all religion in general? Maybe. Sure, there are a few underlying themes (and what themes they are: even if The Master were more straightforward, Anderson's nihilistic themes wouldn't necessarily make this movie easier to like):
 - Some people are utterly beyond help
 - People, especially those who are a part of a religion or cult, will chew you up and spit you out if you don't become what they want you to become
 - All people are crocks, and corrupt
 - It's all meaningnless anyway.
Combine those last two, and you wonder if Anderson (whose much-celebrated Blood was also a furiously-dark, nihilistic film about an irredeemably dark-hearted man) is trying to say life is meaningless, or human existence is meaningless. Maybe religion is meaningless? Frankly, if you're going to aim for that, at least make your movie mean something. Ambiguity is cool sometimes, not as the main feature of a 137-minute film. The non-ending, brought about by unexplained causes, is unbelievably unsatisfying (and depressing), and that comes only after you begin to have doubts around the one-hour mark. What's with all the nudity during one sermon/sing-along romp led by a giddy Dodd? What's with the newylwed daughter making eyes at, and groping, the hollow-eyed Freddie, only to venomously criticize him at her father's knee later? What is the point of a back story describing Freddie's much younger lost true love? What is the basis of The Cause? Why are Dodd's followers so slow to realize he's just making everything up?

As I said, I believe Anderson is taking shots at the establishments, practices, and dedicated followers of religions, and he's also, undoubtedly, celebrating that, after Night, Magnolia, Blood and 2004's Punch-Drunk Love, he can put anything he wants onscreen and some people will hail it as genius. Or at least New Age. To me, The Master is depressing, nihilistic, and annoyingly pretentious.

What Does Work?
Jonny Greenwood's score and Mihai Malaimare Jr.'s cinematography are both terrific, giving The Master the makings of something really good, so it's a shame they're in service of a film is ultimately an empty shell. Ditto for the two leads, who are both deserving of awards recognition--Phoenix has the self-hating, self-pitying, rage-filled loner down to a T (all those emotions are clearly present in his eyes and face throughout the film) and Hoffman is dynamite as both a crock-in-denial and as a leader/master who will not accept anyone's doubts or criticisms. The two have a few moments together onscreen (including a bravura sequence in which Phoenix must answer a quick sequence of emotionally-grueling questions without blinking his eyes) that are incredibly powerful. It wouldn't surprise (or disturb) me to see either of these two actors in the year-end awards races; I'm just sorry they weren't given a better film to be a part of.

Content:
Surprisingly crude. Other than a few sexual encounters of Freddie's that bookend the film, there's that shocking sequence where, suddenly, every female onscreen is naked, and another in which Adams snarls nasty nothings into Hoffman's ear while excitedly caressing. This obsession with lust and sex would make the film unlikable enough, even if it didn't end up being an overall dud. There's also scores of F-words and sexual references, and Phoenix's character's erratic behavior can make this a tough one to watch.

Bottom Line: Whatever director Paul Thomas Anderson intended The Master to be-a jab at religion, a jab at Scientology, a study in hopelessness or a historical fiction-it's undermined by an ambiguous, muddled plot, eyebrow-raising randomness, and a mean-spirited undertone. Some of the acting is fine, but you should definitely skip this one.

The Master (2012)
Directed and Written For the Screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
Rated R
Length: 137 minutes