But, most importantly, there is virtually no development in Freddie's character or his relationship with Dodd. Freddie starts the film a seedy, virtually subnormal drunk and ends it a seedy, virtually subnormal drunk. Indeed, despite acting as an occasionally   violent henchman for the cult, he is ultimately — and lamely — rejected as being beyond help. His "journey" leads us, the audience, right up a cul-de-sac. Why then should we invest any interest in this individual who exhibits no hidden treasure, no qualities — great or twisted — to unearth?     

Some filmmakers, such as Ridley Scott, have customarily been excused for their sometimes weak storytelling because of the beauty of their visuals. But the luxurious photography of The Master doesn't compensate in the same way, for the impression gradually forms that Anderson regards intelligent, comprehensible storytelling as beneath him. You start to resent the implicit suggestion that it is vulgar to expect the story to have a point.

Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, both with their slightly off-kilter, indie air, are among the most admired of today's screen actors. They give their all here, displaying that type of detailed dedication which also acts as an advertisement for material they obviously consider "important". Phoenix, best known perhaps in a stock-ier incarnation as the malignant Emperor to Russell Crowe's Gladiator, must have lost a ton of weight for the part, and scuttles, hands on hips, across the screen, drawling his lines, sometimes indecipherably, from the corner of his mouth. Seymour Hoffman, too, holds the screen with his voice. 

All of this is impressive, in a way. But I kept thinking what a good six-part series this story would have made, if it had been given over to the writers of Homeland. I would certainly have watched it on TV. As I would, too, a good documentary on L. Ron Hubbard. In that case, truth would have proved not just stranger than fiction, but far more vivid and compelling in the telling. Yes, The Master has some great acting. But despite the air of seriousness which pervades the whole thing, the only question you're left pondering is — so what?