THE MASTER
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Just as There Will Be Blood writer-director Paul Thomas Andersons 2007 masterpiece was a portrait of unbridled American ambition, The Master its much anticipated and equally staggering follow up hinges on a uniquely American strain of aimlessness.
In the wake of his World War II military service, mentally unstable and unsettlingly strange Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is dumped back into the world packing a propensity for violence and a fondness for near-toxic hooch. His work as a department store photographer offers further torment, forcing him to stare down normalcy on a daily basis. When his frequent meltdowns relegate him to societys margins, he falls in with Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The founder of a burgeoning faith called The Cause, Dodd takes on Freddie as his protege and guinea pig and subjects him to a battery of processing (which bears a striking resemblance to Scientologys auditing).
If Blood had but one weakness, it was that antagonist Paul Dano simply couldnt keep pace with Daniel Day Lewis locomotive-like lead performance. There are no such concerns here, as Hoffman deftly complements Phoenix at every turn. That said, its undeniably the latter in his first proper role in four years who tops The Masters lengthy list of highlights as the all-Id, practically feral Freddie.
For once, it seems that Andersons trademark long takes and virtuoso tracking shots arent so much a matter of bravura filmmaking as an absolute necessity for ensuring that not a moment of the years most riveting performance is missed.
There will be awe.
