The Master

Before I get to my review, I want to talk about art for a second. Good art means something different to every single person. What I interpret and get from any piece of art is going to have similarities to what you get from that work of art, but they will not be the same. The variety of emotions and interpretations is what makes art special. I bring this up because The Master is a very complex movie. I may say things that you disagree with. And I just want you to know that we are both right, unless you are wrong.

ANYWAYS...who would like some free processing?

The Master is a masterpiece. P.T. Anderson is one of the premier filmmakers of the 20th century. In The Master, he tells the story of a man named Freddy. Freddy has some problems. For starters, he has PTSD from killing Japs in WWII. For another, he is slowly poisoning himself by creating drinks that mix typically booze, with strange chemicals. Early in the film, one of his brews causes the death to a friend of his because, according to Freddy, he didnt drink it smart.

Freddy meets Lancaster Dodd, a leader of a cult-like religion called The Cause. Lancaster enjoys Freddy's strange brews and his childlike sense of humor. He takes Freddy under his wing and tries to cure him of the various ailments that plague poor Freddy. Freddy is then put through the ringer with various tests and activities eventually cause him to leave The Cause. At the end of the film, he returns to Lancaster, but only to tell him that he is out. When the film ends, Freddy hasnt changed at all, he now incorporates the Causes language during his carnal activities.

What makes this movie truly great is that Freddy is called and treated as a dog. For all practical purposes, he is a dog, driven by base desires. He drinks heavily, both normal alcohol and anything he can find in the medicine cabinet or under the sink. He tries to have sex with almost every women he meets. And he picks fights with anyone who upsets him, and sometimes people who do nothing (for those Deadwood fans, I was shocked Dan didnt kick the shit out of him).

Lancaster is, essentially, trying to train poor Freddy. In a truly incredible montage, Lancaster (along with his family) try to break Freddy of all his bad habits. And while Freddy does his best to please his master, he is unable to continue his success when he does not have a master. Lancaster is all the sizzle, but none of the steak. Like one of Freddy's victims says at the end about Book 2, it could have been boiled down to a 3 page pamphlet and given to people on the subway. For all the talk, he does not accomplish anything with his most treasured student. When the movie ends, Lancaster is continuing to do what he does, now in England, and what he will keep doing for a billion years. Freddy is doing the same thing he did at the start of the film, drinking and having sex with strange women. Only this time, he asks the girl to say her name...then again...then again...then to put it back in, because it fell out.

Side note. Anderson knows how to make a movie beautiful. The cinematography is tremendous. The various shots of water behind a ship, to the first time Freddy is "processed", to the time they all go out and play "drive fast into the distance for a while". Anderson's movies are works of art in a purely visual sense. He also has the benefit of working with some of the finest actors of this day and age. Mr. Phoenix and Mr. Hoffman both give tremendous performances and Ms. Adams and Mr. Plemons (LANDRY!!!) help carry some of the scenes without Lancaster. If it wasnt for the movie that the other hollywood Anderson directed this year, The Master would be the best movie of the year, by far.