The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman)

Since this is only my third post in 4 years, one might guess that I don't see a lot of movies - or think much about the ones I do.

Which is true.

But this one is different because it's built around a relationship between two contemporary phenomena that interest me: self-improvement cults and PTSD veterans.

My wife jumped off a bridge after becoming involved with the former -- while my father was among the latter.

And this is among the few films targeted at adults, and among the even fewer such that is not a melodrama or the vehicle of some heavy-handed message, or driven by suspense. ("Erin Brockovich" would be an example of all three)

A troubled young veteran stows away on the ship of a self-help guru who takes him on as a companion and challenging project. Eventually the vet runs away, decides to stay away, and the movie ends with his moment of personal fulfillment: he's drunk and his cock is inside a smiling young cutie.

And the viewer is invited to make whatever can be made of the 2 and a half hours worth of details.

Is the guru's small community a microcosm of post-war, every-man-for-himself America?

That works for me -- though as I sift through the details, I am puzzled just how the totally fucked-up vet got the funds to travel across country, and even overseas, at the end of the film. He has no family, has been unemployable, and there's no indication that he's on any kind of pension. Where does he get the cash?

There is a whiff of insight in the wolf-pack dynamics of the master's world, and a hint of drama in the vet's decision to remain a loner --- but mostly this film is a showcase for acting and costume design.

So it's tedious - and it's such a relief to leave behind this introspective world.