All Critics (218)
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Top Critics (45)
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Fresh (189)
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Rotten (31)
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DVD (3)
In the end it may not have the emotional uplift the Academy or a popular mainstream audience craves, but make no mistake, this is an enthralling drama about a peculiarly American restlessness, and the striving for insight and grace.
[A] challenging, psychologically fraught drama.
The actors' commitment to their roles is impressive, but it's tethered to a weightless, airless movie, a film so enamored of itself, the audience gets shut out.
The Master may go down as one of Paul Thomas Anderson's most compelling works for two simple reasons: Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Where There Will Be Blood transmuted sullen earth into flame and launched it violently skyward, The Master is, as its opening shot advertises, a more fluid undertaking, a story of ebb and flow.
The Master is as confounding as it is magnificent.
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master is a challenging film, like most of his work. One that evokes a spellbinding performance out of Joaquin Phoenix.
Despite sumptuous cinematography and sublime acting, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film ultimately feels a touch pointless.
There is not too much by way of extras in the new Blu-ray release of the under appreciated film, "The Master," but what is there is excellent.
Phoenix and Hoffman both put on clinics, and Anderson's story, though meandering, never stalls.
Possibly the most misunderstood American movie of last year, Paul Thomas Anderson's most striking and original movie to date ultimately reveals itself to be a great thwarted American love story.
Admir�vel ao permitir que o filme desenvolva seus temas e personagens ao seguir em dire��es frequentemente inesperadas, Anderson continua a demonstrar seu talento como cineasta tanto pela maturidade de seus temas quanto por seu preciosismo est�tico.
Refusing to wrestle with the veracity or the real implications of The Cause, one begins to question what is underpinning the entire exercise, an ambiguity that, as with Kubrick, will require multiple viewings to unravel.
The at-times-impenetrable film will require multiple viewings to fully appreciate the multitude of themes and subtext.
Anderson has achieved his mid-century epic, and in its pure 65mm sumptuousness, the great American movie.
THE MASTER is a brilliant film. THE MASTER is a confounding film. The Master is a terrible film. THE MASTER may talked about for the ages or forgotten in a few years. THE MASTER may be a masterpiece, THE MASTER may be empty of content...
THE MASTER is brilliant and/or confounding and/or terrible. It may be talked about for the ages or forgotten in a few years. It may be a masterpiece, and/or it may be empty of content masked by strong moments of acting prowess and visual flare.
With almost no narrative progression, this film is basically a character study in which the main characters remain little changed and enigmatic.
The least accessible of Anderson's films, and the least enjoyable, but it's intelligent and original enough for him to remain a "must-see" director.
For me, it is a masterpiece, a visually stunning explosion of pure cinema, emotionally charged with a penetrating psychological punch. If you are bored by this film, to paraphrase the great Samuel Johnson, then you are bored with life.
This is ( ... ) for cinephiles. You are expected to love it, but it sometimes left me scratching my head.
The Master is not short but, once you fill in the blanks, you find yourself constructing a meta-film that, if realised, would play for many, many more hours.
A dense, baffling, thoroughly original epic that seems to divide viewers on the simple question of what it's supposed to be about.
A bit of a sprawling, repetitive mess, a film that hints at greatness to be sure, but fails to come together in any coherent way ...
86%
11%
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Top Critic
Paul Thomas Anderson's newest film, The Master, is quite a piece of filmmaking. All of Anderson's genius trademarks are there in this film. When talking about The Master, there is something that needs to be understood. That you can't quite grasp what is going on at all the various levels of this story. The Master is a film that cries to be watched more than once. This is often something I take away from a first look at one of Anderson's films. The first time around sucks you in, but you know you need to see it again. I know I need to watch The Master again, and I guarantee when I do, my praise for it will be even greater.
The Master follows a Naval veteran, Freddie, after he arrives back in the states after World War II. He's a weird guy. The first sense we get of this is in the opening scene when some of his fellow shipmates make a woman out of sand on a beach. Freddie climbs onto the sand woman and acts like he is having sex with it and actually goes into greater detail then just thrusting his hips. He's also an alcoholic who makes his own alcohol. When he comes across a ship and wakes up on it after a drunken night, he meets Lancaster Dodd. Dodd is a charming leader of a new movement(cult) called The Cause. He begins to take Freddie under his wing and mentor him.
There's a lot of great stuff to talk about in The Master. First of all, Paul Thomas Anderson's writing and direction. Anderson is obviously one of the more original and creative directors in the business right now. Everything he touches seems to be more than it should be, because of where he takes his stories. Whether it be Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, or now The Master; his script always holds a magnificent amount of power. Secondly, the acting. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman are incredible, and the supporting cast around them are solid as well. Third, the cinematography. This is something that you don't really need to worry about in an Anderson film because his movies always look great. The music is great, the film looks perfect as it pertains to the 1950 setting, and the sets are beautiful. Everything added together and you've got quite a special film.
The movie definitely has a weird ambiance about it. There's something haunting in the starkness of this film and fully to understand how the movie made me feel, I need to watch it again down the line. All I really need to say at this point is that Anderson didn't disappoint with his first film since There Will Be Blood. I can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeves the next time he makes a new film.