The Master

The Master. It looks good. It's acted good. It's written good. But, it's also overwhelmingly hard to process; in fact, as I'm writing this, I'm still trying to process it. If you want to know what I understood, read on.

Just after World War II, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) lives an aimless life. He can't keep a job for very long and his relationships with fellow man are a mess. One night, he hitches a ride on a yacht owned by writer Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd is also the head of a religious movement called “The Cause.” Intrigued by The Cause, Freddie joins to help spread its word across the country.

For the rest of the movie, there's suspicions that Dodd's movement is nothing but a cult. Also, there's Quell being an angry man. And Dodd's wife, Peggy (Amy Adams), being serious in the background. All the while, we're wondering “what?”

Director/Writer Paul Thomas Anderson's film isn't that easy to take in. It's quite serious, can get weird at times and it is long. Its main characters, especially Quell, aren't that appealing. They may look appealing, but beneath it all, they are unpleasant. Still, they are convincingly performed as unpleasant people. But that's not the same as me wanting to be in the same room as them.

Alleviating the unpleasantness of the story's mood a bit is a few of its crew. Its cinematography, by Mihai Malaimare Jr., is the first film since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet to be shot on 70 MM film. Its colors and the depths of its outdoor scenery shots are amazing. Meanwhile, its production and costume design look authentically 1950's. Composer Johnny Greenwood, who also did Anderson's There Will Be Blood, gives the film a distinctive score.

Still, it actually does have a positive message: being one's own master. But still, there's the fact that we have to sit through two and a half hours of weirdness and seriousness. Anyone else who wishes to see this movie, please proceed with caution. Or, not at all.