Masterful Lead Performances, But Not Enough to Be a Modern Classic: Our Review of "The Master" (2012)

Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Rating: R for sexual content, graphic nudity and language

Run Time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Synopsis: After coming home from WWII in the Pacific, Freddie Quell (Phoenix) becomes a drifter, never quite holding on to a job and constantly staying drunk. One night he stumbles across an intellectual named Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) who has created a faith-based organization called The Cause alongside his wife (Adams). Dodd makes Quell his right-hand man, but as The Cause grows, so does the tension between the two men.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I hit the local multiplex to see one of this year’s most anticipated dramas – The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this is his first film since 2007’s critically acclaimed There Will Be Blood, for which Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar.

This movie is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for the three leads. Phoenix plays Freddie Quell, a WWII vet who comes home from the Pacific and has no direction in life in addition to probably being crazy. Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a group (Religion? Cult?) called The Cause, who comes across Freddie and takes him under his wing. And Adams plays Dodd’s doting wife who is much more than she appears at first.

Sarah, this is a film I’ve been looking forward to because the three leads. I was not a big fan of There Will Be Blood (I liked No Country For Old Men way better that year) and Boogie Nights is about the only P.T. Anderson film I would consider buying. I don’t know how you felt towards seeing this, but that we have, what are your thoughts on The Master?

See Philip Seymour Hoffman as "The Master" in P.T. Anderson's New Trailer

Andrew: Hello readers! It's going to be a good day for movie trailers as not one but two trailers have hit the web today for a couple of the year's most highly-anticipated films. We'll post the other one in a little bit, but the one seen here is the latest teaser trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming film, The Master.


It's Anderson's follow-up to his highly-acclaimed There Will Be Blood, and it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as the titlular "Master," an author who becomes the leader of his own religious group, which may or may not be a reference to L. Ron Hubbard.


Joaquin Phoenix also stars as a troubled man who becomes the right-hand man to Hoffman's character. This new trailer gives us a look at Hoffman's character, and I personally love the music. Check it out below!





The Master also stars Amy Adams and will be released by the Weinstein Co. later this year with a limited release in October.