The Master

Rated:: R (for sexual content, graphic nudity and language)
Running time:: 150 minutes
Synopsis:: After returning from the Second World War, a psychologically troubled drifter returns from the war and meets the charismatic leader of a new religion. The Master befriends the drifter to help him sort out his life and provide meaning. The drifter becomes his right-hand man and, after a while begins to question both his belief in the leader and his teachings as the organization grows and gains a fervent following.
Release date:: September 14, 2012
Website:: http://www.themasterfilm.com/
Quick review:: Joaquin Phoenix goes wild as a psychologically damaged Navy veteran in the early ’50s who meets up with a charismatic cult leader, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic exploration of religious fervor, and of the quest for spiritual transcendence in a physical world. Beautiful, but messy, and the momentum just falls away in its second hour.