Rating of
2.5/4
Daniel Day-Lewis deserved his Oscar.
CarrieMiller - wrote on 07/30/08
There has been a lot of hype regarding this movie because of the Oscar winning performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, and frankly it is deserved. Based on the book, Oil! by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood is dramatic movie telling the story of Daniel Plainview and his oil business. Daniel Day Lewis plays the title character to perfection showing both the astute businessman and ultimately the power-mad recluse.
The film has remnants of the Western genre thanks to director Paul Thomas Anderson with wide angle landscapes shots, scenes with little or no dialogue and great emphasis on the barron landscape where the film is set. It could have been possible to have shot the movie in black and white for as little color as there is in a lot of the movie.
The plot shows Daniel Plainview begin drilling for oil in a small California town. With his young son by his side to convience the locals to sell their land to him, Plainview begins to feel the price of greed and develops into a scary, twisted protaginist who commits unthinkable acts in his quest to be the richest and most successful oil barron.
This film is slow moving, with every scene taking care to emphasize the characterization of Plainview and supporting characters such as Eli and H.W. The running time is just over two and half hours which makes it feel painfully tedious at times.
This movie is worth watching for Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar winning performance which is without doubt the strongest element of this film and really the only element worthy of an Oscar nomination, let alone a win.
