Joaquin Phoenix is back at work acting after a two year hiatus where he displayed some strange behavior which he said was all for a documentary titled "I Am Not Here." Phoenix is getting rave reviews for his acting in his latest movie, "The Master."
Phoenix stars as an alcoholic Navy veteran Freddie Quell who is wandering through life after World War I when he crosses paths with charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Freddie not only becomes a favored follower of Dodd's, he also submits to Dodd's version of psychotherapy, known as "processing," in the hope of controlling his explosive temper.
"The Master" was given a limited release Friday and will open more widely next week. Critics are lauding Joaquin Phoenix's performance in the movie that is loosely based on the early days of Scientology, and the movie itself had a successful turn at the film festival circuit.
The Master won big at the Venice Film Festival, with Anderson winning the Silver Lion for director and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoneix splitting the best actor award. The film lost out on the top prize due to a technicality - it had won too many other awards already.
Here is a roundup of reviews for "The Master"
Los Angeles Times: "The Master" takes some getting used to. This is a superbly crafted film that's at times intentionally opaque, as if its creator didn't want us to see all the way into its heart of darkness. It's a film bristling with vivid moments and unbeatable acting, but its interest is not in tidy narrative satisfactions but rather the excesses and extremes of human behavior, the interplay of troubled souls desperate to find their footing.
Slate: The Master is a rich, dense text, one that calls for multiple viewings to tease out details like these. Shot in bright, crisp colors by Mihai Malaimare Jr. on that now hard-to-obtain 65mm film stock, it pays homage to the look of '50s films without pastiche or nostalgia. The subject matter may be (loosely) historical, but Anderson's eye and ear are resolutely modern. Jonny Greenwood's prickly, sometimes discordant score alternates with plaintive old standards, leaving the audience in a perpetual state of disquiet. It's a movie that seems to unfold at a distance, aesthetically dazzling but emotionally remote.
People: Hoffman is remarkably subtle in revealing Lancaster's spiteful ego, and Phoenix is just ... remarkable. His turn as a man drained and broken is so powerful, I'm afraid to imagine what he had to do to deliver it.
NY Daily News: Phoenix gives the performance of his career. Forget whatever weirdness he's done in the past; Freddy is his masterpiece of quirk. Gaunt and round-shouldered - the actor resembles Montgomery Clift in his post-car-accident roles - Freddy is stooped from his war experiences. Phoenix lets us see how the grief and fear eased by being part of a movement never completely goes away.
