The Master has been getting hyped up for quite a while now. It has been the talk of festivals and has now gotten a fairly wide release into theaters. It is the film that will kick off all other Oscar season films for 2013. The real question though-is The Master the brilliant, Oscar caliber film it has been made out to be? Well-not really. Yes-despite three excellent performances-the film, at least in my eyes is a total bore.
The film tells the story of Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix)....a naval veteran who comes home skeptical of what is to come for him. He now takes pictures for a living and many of his customers do not seem to appreciate him. He mindlessly drifts from having sex with one woman to another and is not really happy with his life. That is until he meets Lancaster (Phillip Seymour Hoffman)-the leader of a Scientology group that goes by the name The Cause. He is instantly attracted to the group and everyone in it.
What baffles me about this film is how boring it is. Phoenix, Hoffman and Amy Adams as Peggy-Lancaster's wife are all terrific but the film goes nowhere fast. Yes-some may argue that me having seen this alone did not help. They will say that the subject matter would most likely go over anyone's head. That, however would be a false statement. On the contrary-the problem with the film is that for a film about Scientology...it is quite simple. The audience gets the old Scientology is BS and no one should believe it treatment and it feels really, really old. Also-there is a shot at both the beginning and end of the film that shows and proves nothing. Rather-it just makes the audience wonder why the filmmakers showed it a second time. Also...the three performances all feel as if they are from different films. Phoenix, Hoffman and Adams do not work as a consistent team.
Paul Thomas Anderson of There Will Be Blood wrote and directed this film. Unlike There Will Be Blood-a significantly better film-this one feels rushed. It feels as if Anderson just wanted to get another film out before the Oscars deadline. The film is incredibly dull and keeps mocking the audience by never really giving anything to connect with.
Not to say that The Master is a bad film. As previously mentioned-there are three excellent performances at play here but the film itself has nothing going for it. The film had so much potential in fact that I am having a hard time not recommending it. However-in the film industry potential does not particularly mean good.
(2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity and language)
Are you talking about the shot of him on the beach? I found that shot incredibly profound.
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