The MasterMovie Reviews

5 people out of the 7 in the theater thought it was awful and a waste of their time. Me included. We didn't walk out because we were waiting for the good part. It never came.

Good performance, script jumps the shark

Several good performance but the screenplay left a lot to desired. Far too long.

masterfully self-indulgent

plodding, repetitive, ponderous and pompous... oh, and really, really boring when it's not absolutely irritating. Why are professional reviewers afraid to call an ambitious failure a failure? No amount of great acting could counter-balance the indulgent editing, the excessively vague presumptions to high metaphor, and the overarching self-righteousness.
Enjoy the trailer and stay far, far away...

Great Acting - Suckish Production

Phoenix's portrayal of a disturbed drifter is incredible and Hoffman's performance is solid as usual. A great supporting cast.

That's it for good news. The incoherent screenplay lacks depth, particularly for a 2+ hour movie. The editor's scissors failed him as trimming would have tightened the story. I started checking my watch at 1:15 and considered taking a nap.

The Master

Awful! Waste of time and money. Acting was great. Cinematography was beautiful. Story was... well, what was the story? And why 2 hours and 16 excruciating minutes when you could have told the same non-story in 60 minutes or less? (I can't see how this was a story worth telling at all!) Everybody around us left the theater shaking their heads. I have no idea what the critics saw in this film (one of the few things I agreed with in the NY Times review was that it was "confounding"). I'd like my money and time back.

The Master

The acting was superb but the plot was nonexistent. It started out well enough but then just left everything hanging out there... One thing for sure, no one can do crazy like Joaquin Phoenix. Which begs the question, how much of that is actually acting?

I was expecting something on par with There Will Be Blood. Not even close. To be fair I really don't like Phillip Seymour Hoffman anyways so I wasn't to surprised.
If its really about scientology then I think this was a movie made for actors and Scientologists because I feel like there was a ton of references I didn't get. Either way I should of seen something else.

master

Worst movie ever....what the hell!!! What happened to the Editor???

really terrible

Acting was fabulous but the movie was boring, senseless and overall a waste of time and money

smell the overacting

Such a sorry film with such a great group of actors.

A Modern Classic

In brief, it is one of the more haunting stories that I have seen and where the idea of redemption is not what Joaquin Phoenix's character thinks it is. As an actor he is a force of nature and carries the film almost with his anguished facial expressions alone. I was never a big Joaquin fan prior to this but he should be given an Oscar nomination. The film is taunt, which can be misunderstood as slow pacing, but if you can invest in the movie then a sense that he bottom will drop out at any moment will have you waiting to see what happens next.

Master Disaster

Did the critics see the same movie I did? Over two hours of scenery chewing by a cast of characters who gave you no reason the care about them. On and on it droned toward its totally unsatisfying end. But worse than that, this film was so disturbingly bad, I lost sleep over it. Depressing, overacted, poorly written. Do be led down this path by the shills of The Master. Talk about mind control!

rambling

I couldn't for the life of me wrap my head around the point if this movie

I'd rather be a scientologist...

This was by far, one of the least entertaining, least suspenseful, least dramatic movies I have ever seen. Critics will say the acting was great, but what fun is it to see any movie with no plot? HUGE waste of ticket money.

The Master

Having read about the film in an article in TIME Magazine, and recently hearing Regis Philburn
on David Letterman rave about the movie (Joaquin was said to be a candidate for an Oscar performance!), I was looking forward to it...Loved the acting and was interested in the hype about the religion Scientology, so it measure up to my expectations!!! I recommend it to anyone
who likes drama and the Hollywood fads and Joaqion, the bizarre actor. (Can Scientology cure alcoholism??????) ;. )