Follow the Leader

Review: The Master

With prodigious ambitions and unparallelled talent, The Master is a remarkable feat of superior acting and extraordinary cinematography, which at times struggles to synchronize both voice and message.

Academy Award Nominee Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line, Gladiator) is Freddie, a WWII veteran struggling to cope with civilian life, intentionally disrupting the normalcy of his new environment with self-concocted chemically-altered liquors, explicit sexual fantasies, and spates of sudden rage. Freddie wanders from job to job, fired from each of them, until he meets the Master.

Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Doubt) is Lancaster Dodd, the founder and charismatic leader of a faith-based organization known as "The Cause." Lancaster's influence is growing, but he takes a specific liking to Freddie and his sure-to-be poisonous drinks, much to the chagrin of some of his followers, including his wife.

Academy Award Nominee Amy Adams (The Fighter, Doubt) is Peggy Dodd, Lancaster's spouse and antagonist to Freddie. It is possible Peggy believes in The Cause more than her husband and her passion drives her as a behind-the-scenes agent of the organization.


The combination of these three acting greats culminates in a number of dramatic moments, One scene relatively early in the film is particularly remarkable, in which Lancaster interrogates Freddie by asking him a number of questions repeatedly, with the whole process starting over if Freddie blinks.

The movie may be titled The Master, but this film is all about the follower and Phoenix truly gives the performance of his career, already making him a clear contender for an Oscar win. While Hoffman and Adams are quite good and likely to be recognized with award nominations as well, Phoenix gives astounding depth to the struggle of Freddie, who clouds his own reality with alcohol to bury his inner-demons and wishes desperately to discover a purpose, but begins to demand truth from the mentor whose methods demand increasing skepticism.

While The Master's parallels with Scientology are clear, remaining ambiguous is what the director, Academy Award Nominee P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia), is actually trying to say. Roger Ebert notes in his review, "The Master is fabulously well-acted and crafted, but when I reach for it, my hand closes on air."

Because Freddie is clearly lacking in sound mental capacity, there is no way to establish any intelligent commentary on the effects of membership on the average person in such a cult-like religion, except perhaps that such institutions prey on the weak-minded. The innate abnormality of Freddie blurs the line between his already preexisting conditions and what The Cause has done to him, while creating a barrier between the audience and empathy for the character.

Regardless of murky intentions, The Master does create the interesting paradox in that even though Freddie is obviously at least a little crazy, his failure to blindly accept The Cause possibly makes him the most sane individual within the organization.

Overall, The Master may not have the most well-constructed narrative ever conceived and may drag on a bit too long, but the film clearly boasts 137 minutes of spectacular visuals and unforgettable performances.

The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.