The period after World War II ushered in seismic changes in American life. After two decades of depression and war, things started to look up again. Massive subdivsions full of tract housing sprouted up in the suburbs surrounding the major cities of the United States. People started buying things again, things such as new cars, new appliances, and even the television. Although the interstate highway system was years in the future, there were highways being built everywhere, and the great migration of people to the south and west from the industrial cities of the Northeast begun. Once again America was on the move.
Of course, it wasn't all a bed of roses. There were still plenty of poor who didn't share in the new found bounty. And things wouldn't start to get that much better for you if you were a woman, a person of color, or other marginalized minorities for another decade at least. Even if they escaped serious injury during the war, many veterans had to deal with PTSD and other psychological issues stemming from the horrors of the battlefield. The Cold War was in its early days, and a hot war in Korea spent a lot of lives doing little but preserving the status quo. And above it all, most Americans wanted to find something more to believe in than buying a new home, a new Buick, or a trip to Miami Beach.
It was this longing, often not served by the mainline churches of the time, that led to a burgeoning of new religious sects, philosophies, and 'isms' that also sprung up after the war. Most faded away after a few years of popularity, destined for the dustbin of history. But one, founded by an enigmatic and complicated science fiction writer, has stuck around. I am, of course, talking about The Cause and its founder Lancaster Dodd.
OK, OK, I kid, I kid. The Cause clearly has similarities to Scientology, and Philip Seymour Hoffman's Dodd has certain similarities to L. Ron Hubbard. However, this is not a film about Scientology, or about L. Ron Hubbard, with the names changed to the extent that the famously litigious religion couldn't sue the pants off the production. In an abstract sense it's a story about self-denial versus uninhibited pleasure, violent passion versus rational discussion, and man's desire to rise above simple existence versus our drive to wallow around in the filth like animals. In a more concrete sense it's a story about the Hubbardesque Lancaster Dodd and Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a former sailor who oftentimes seem to be nothing but pure id.
When he stowed away on a ship taking Dodd and his followers from San Francisco to New York, Quell was not in good shape. He was out of work, out of money, and barely ahead of a mob looking to make him pay for possibly poisoning someone. Over the course of the film, Dodd tries to apply the teachings and "applications" of The Cause to help Quell give up drinking and become a fully functioning person. Meanwhile, Dodd, his wife Peggy (Amy Adams) and the rest of his followers try to keep their movement afloat, despite many doubters, issues with the law, and Dodd's own set of demons. These issues are pretty well highlighted in this clip from the film (NSFW for the title of the video, I suppose)
Without a doubt, the performances are the highlight of this film. Joaquin Phoenix does a great job as Quell, never betraying the bubbling violence and lust that sits on the surface, even when calm. There are very few times he isn't swearing, fighting, drinking, or having sex in some form during the film.
Like many of her roles, you can forget how great of a job Amy Adams did, until you watch the film again. Her role is a far subtler role than what Phoenix or Hoffman played, yet she does great with it. The look she gives in the clip above as Dodd starts to lose his composure is easy to miss, but says everything about her character.
And of course there is Hoffman. He does a great job of portraying a man who is most likely making up everything he's writing about as he goes along, but who also believes every single word he thinks up. Although certainly in more control of himself than Quell, he isn't without his own flaws and tendencies toward giving in to his base instincts. After all, the reason he let Quell stick around is because of his ability to make intoxicating drinks using paint thinner as a base.
The scene in the above clip is a great showcase for the talents of both Phoenix and Hoffman. It establishes that fraud or not, Dodd is certainly great at getting something out the adherents to his "informal processing". It also gets to what drives Freddie, and explains why he would hang around for a while with The Cause.
And yet, despite the wonderful performances, great score, and wonderful direction by Anderson, I can't quite put this in the pantheon. After all, my DVD Case Pantheon is not representative of the best films ever made, but rather my favorite films*. While I respect The Master, I don't love it. As such, I'm glad I own it, and will certainly watch it again. It just won't be on those top two shelves.
Verdict: Just misses the pantheon, although it certainly deserves a place in my "Insult Pantheon" for Pig Fuck
* Seriously, there are some films in here that don't belong anywhere near the best films of all time lists.
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