The Master is the best film of 2012 I think. Next to Zero Dark Thirty, it appears on the most critics’ year-end lists. For some reason, neither of these two facts translated into a Best Picture nomination at either the Globes or the Oscars, nor into either nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson. But does PTA give a damn? Not a single one.
I get that it’s not for everyone. I didn’t even like it the first time I saw it. But once you get sucked into the bizarre world and mind of Freddie Quell (astonishingly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix), you can’t escape it. The, shall we say, unorthodox friendship he develops with Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character Lancaster Dodd is one of the highlights and most wonderful mysteries of the movies this year. They have a sort of tense rivalry interspersed with severe personal affection for one another. The movie is a strange puzzle weaved together in a compelling and innovative way—so strange that it’s easy to toss aside and not know how to respond precisely. That’s exactly what makes it so much fun, though.
Like last year’s Tree of Life, its elusiveness makes it all the more enticing and its unique tone and rhythms tell us a story in a completely fresh and confounding way. Paul Thomas Anderson has a way of signaling that there’s a lot going on in the movie while making sure he’s not giving too much away so you can experience the joy of figuring it all out on your own.
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