Review: The Master (2012)

[Mark Leeper]

THE MASTER
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: In the years after WWII Freddie Quell, an
unbalanced and misfit Navy veteran, finds and comes
under the sway of an American cult led by charismatic
demagogue Lancaster Dodd. Quell becomes a fanatic
believer in the cult, but can never get the full
approval from Dodd that he desperately seeks.
Selective in its appeal, the film has a lot to say
about the nature of religious belief, the personalities
of radical followers and generally the functioning of
cults. Paul Thomas Anderson writes and directs a film
that is cryptic and compelling. Rating: +3 (-4 to +4)
or 9/10

Serving in World War II has left Freddie Quell (played by Joaquin
Phoenix) alcoholic and nearly psychotic. He looks like he has
fallen back a step or two in evolution, dirty and emaciated, full
of pent-up hatred, constantly drunk, and on the verge of senseless
violence. Quell tries a few jobs, screws up, and barely avoids
being jailed each time. Fleeing from one of his screw-ups, he
hides by jumping on a convenient yacht. He awakes in the morning
not to be thrown from the boat, but invited to talk to the owner of
the yacht, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman as you have never
seen him). Dodd leads a philosophical quasi-religious cult
adhering to Dodd's philosophy and mystical discipline, The Cause.
Dodd has use for Freddie and also a taste for a somewhat toxic
alcoholic concoction that Freddie makes. Dodd begins to analyze
Quell and to indoctrinate him into the cult. From the start Dodd
treats Quell like an old friend at the cost of Quell submitting to
Dodd's pseudo-psychological examinations and treatments. Dodd's
power seems to heavily draw strength from his gentle but quietly
creepy wife Peggy (Amy Adams played with a touch of sinister unlike
anyone she has played before). Peggy (among others) senses that
Freddie is driven by hidden furies. She projects some odd
combination of sinister and the innocence she has had in previous
films.

Paul Thomas Anderson, who writes and directs, contrasts the very
postures of Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. Quell is gaunt and
walks stooped over and round-shouldered. Dodd seems to feel
supremely confident of his stout body and moves about almost like a
dancer. Phoenix and Hoffman perform remarkable feats of physical
acting.

THE MASTER dovetails with Anderson's last film, the five-year-old
THERE WILL BE BLOOD, a film with it own charismatic and
manipulative religious leader Eli Sunday. This film could in some
ways be an elaboration on Eli Sunday taking to an extreme. Joaquin
Phoenix seems not so much improved by his relation with the The
Cause as channeled to use his rage to do what he sees as defending
the religion.

Anderson uses a naturalistic style that in the early part of the
film seems to be slowing the narrative in his 135-minute film. It
is much the same style he gave THERE WILL BE BLOOD, which also
began with a slow segment. It does give the proceedings a feel of
authenticity. Those hoping to see the film shed light on just how
a cult works may be disappointed to find that the film is mostly
about Quell. Though Dodd claims a scientific background, which may
be fabricated, there are certainly some differences between The
Cause and Scientology.

Anderson seems in his films to keep returning to people with
unusual power and how they express this power over others: a
gambling guru, a porn film director, an oil magnate, and now the
founder of his own religion. As the latter, Dodd may be the most
powerful of these men. If Anderson is going to continue this theme
it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. THE MASTER
is both intelligent and scary. I rate it a +3 on the -4 to +4
scale or 9/10.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1560747/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_master_2011/>


Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2012 Mark R. Leeper