The Master

The Master directed by Paul Thomas Anderson staring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Joaquin Phoenix. 

I still don’t know quite what to make of this movie. It wasn’t a great movie, or at least I dodn’t think it was, but I still couldn’t stop watching it when it started. I think that’s one of the better things about Paul Thomas Anderson, is that he’s more than capable of making a beautiful movie that will pull the viewer along into a world you haven’t seen before. One thing can be said for Anderson is that he makes interesting films and is more than able of transporting the viewer to another time and place. He did this with Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood with breathtaking mastery. I think the only thing that hinders The Master from really reaching those two movies previous heights is there just doesn’t seem to be much of a storyline to hang anything on here.  But unlike most Hollywood movies Anderson doesn’t fall victim to over the top action, sex, violence, or over used technobabble to confuse the viewer when there’s no storyline. There is a storyline here just not a typical one.  But this movie is missing something that would have made it better and what that something is, right now, I don’t  know.  Maybe with time and a lot thinking I’ll be able to figure it out, which is I suppose the core of a better movie that with time it will get better. This movie could be like that but right now I don’t have a desire to see it again, but I can say I’m still grinding it over in my head since I saw it. Even that being said this is still a highly interesting movie to watch and there are a lot of things going that make it much more than what Hollywood is producing now-a-days. I’m surprised Anderson found the backing for this film because of those reasons I mentioned above.  But then he did have Hoffman and Adams doing a marvelous job while Phoenix truly transformed himself into an enigma of a person, which matched the opposite enigma of Hoffman’s character. Adams does an amazing job playing the wife of, basically, a cult leader as she doesn't let that persona of Hoffman overshadow her. She more than holds her, but then she’s always done that in every film I’ve seen her in.  Just look at what she did in Enchanted and be amazed with how much depth she brought to that role in a kids film. I think she’s one of the best American actresses out there right now and that’s a high compliment from me because I think British actors and actresses are the best out there. Anderson gave these three (Hoffman, Adams, and Phoenix) some good dialogue and scenes to work with and they more than stepped up to deliver. This is not a movie for everyone but if you’re in the mood for an interesting character study and a beautifully shot film that will transport you back to an early time period of America, you can’t really go wrong with this movie. And just like the subject matter of cult, journey, duality, and character this movie doesn’t have a definitive ending and the journey to these places can be difficult but if you going in knowing that I think you’ll have a good time.