The back of The Master Blu-ray case declares the film to be “A mind bending cinematic landmark” which is completely misleading. When I think “mind bending” I’m imagining Inception, Memento, or even Dark Skies. The Master is very much not a mind-bending story in the least as it contains a linear narrative. As for it being a cinematic landmark, there again I take issue with this as there isn’t anything about the character, story or even the style of presentation that makes it all too different from what has come before.
The Master is a solid character study, superbly acted by leads Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The two are excellently cast, and while fictional, both characters are all too realistic. Freddie (Phoenix) is a World War II vet who drinks too much and thinks with his libido. He seems to be having trouble adjusting to life after the war, and winds up meeting Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) a sort of psychological self-help guru with a large family and larger entourage.
We know The two main characters are going to meet, so the first half hour or so of the film almost feels like filler. I know it’s supposed to provide background information on Freddie’s character, but much of it could have been condensed or omitted. Set in the late 40s/early 50s when there was an increase in the self-help movement, I expected more of an exploration of Dodd. We get a little bit of a peek behind the curtain, but not nearly enough to get a full sense of his character.
At over 2 hours, this feels like a short subject that was stretched out to an infinitely longer running time just to make it more artistic.
There seems to be plenty of special features but I didn’t check any of them out. I was so disappointed by the main feature that I didn’t want to waste my time with it any more. Perhaps if I hadn’t allowed myself to get duped by the overhyping declaration of The Master being “A mind bending cinematic landmark” I would have enjoyed it more. As it is the film is a very well acted character study that could have been shorter.