Overview
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California. Using his adopted son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainviews motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
My initial reaction to “There Will Be Blood” was admittedly mixed. I really wanted to like the movie and on many levels I think I did. But there was another part of me that wasn’t sure about something…. I didn’t quite have this movie sized up in my tiny noggin and I wasn’t sure why.
It has been said that there are only 6 to 10 types of stories that can be told and “There Will Be Blood” was none of them. Not unlike how No Country For Old Men is less about the who’s, why’s and when’s (hence the reason why people should not have gotten upset by the ending) as it is about the portrait that the director is trying to draw. In this movie, Paul Thomas Anderson forsakes the typical Hollywood themes and instead paints a dark, cold epic that centers around power and greed and the people that both seek it and have it.
This struggle is most easily seen in the main character of the movie, Daniel Plainview. Daniel Day-Lewis played the character to a “T”(maybe too well – imagine a less-exaggerated Jack Palance. And for those of you that know me, yes, I was able to get past the hyphen in his name). As the movie begins, Plainview is a seemingly-humble and ambitious prospector. As the prospecting business becomes more lucrative, Plainview’s morals, appearance and attitudes towards society slide down with it. The only thing that matters is crushing his competition, real or imagined. In the final scene of the movie he does just that. I couldn’t help but think of such historical figures such as Hitler and Howard Hughes when watching this movie. Both of these figures had unchecked wealth and power and were consumed by both as they became maniacal. I’m not sure there were complaints about the end of this movie. Why do people have a need to have their stories spoon-fed to them and wraped up in tidy bows? The end stayed true to the film and that’s all one can ask.
So after some reflection I will say that I am very pleased with this movie. There will be plenty of time to get back to the likes of Owen Wilson and others whose 15 minutes must be just about up. It was nice to be immersed in a film that was more of an experience than a story.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews There Will Be Blood
Movie title: There Will Be Blood
Movie description: Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California. Using his adopted son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainviews motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Date published: 2008-04-12
Director(s): Paul Thomas Anderson
Actor(s): Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier, Ciarán Hinds, Kevin J. O'Connor, Hope Elizabeth Reeves, Colleen Foy, Barry Del Sherman, David Willis, Hans Howes, Sydney McCallister, Paul F. Tompkins, Kevin Breznahan, Jim Meskimen, Erica Sullivan, Randall Carver, James Downey, David Warshofsky, Charles Thomas Doyle, Russell Harvard, Mary Elizabeth Barrett, Brad Carr, Rhonda Reeves, Beau Smith
Genre: Drama
My Review
My initial reaction to “There Will Be Blood” was admittedly mixed. I really wanted to like the movie and on many levels I think I did. But there was another part of me that wasn’t sure about something…. I didn’t quite have this movie sized up in my tiny noggin and I wasn’t sure why.
It has been said that there are only 6 to 10 types of stories that can be told and “There Will Be Blood” was none of them. Not unlike how No Country For Old Men is less about the who’s, why’s and when’s (hence the reason why people should not have gotten upset by the ending) as it is about the portrait that the director is trying to draw. In this movie, Paul Thomas Anderson forsakes the typical Hollywood themes and instead paints a dark, cold epic that centers around power and greed and the people that both seek it and have it.
This struggle is most easily seen in the main character of the movie, Daniel Plainview. Daniel Day-Lewis played the character to a “T”(maybe too well – imagine a less-exaggerated Jack Palance. And for those of you that know me, yes, I was able to get past the hyphen in his name). As the movie begins, Plainview is a seemingly-humble and ambitious prospector. As the prospecting business becomes more lucrative, Plainview’s morals, appearance and attitudes towards society slide down with it. The only thing that matters is crushing his competition, real or imagined. In the final scene of the movie he does just that. I couldn’t help but think of such historical figures such as Hitler and Howard Hughes when watching this movie. Both of these figures had unchecked wealth and power and were consumed by both as they became maniacal. I’m not sure there were complaints about the end of this movie. Why do people have a need to have their stories spoon-fed to them and wraped up in tidy bows? The end stayed true to the film and that’s all one can ask.
So after some reflection I will say that I am very pleased with this movie. There will be plenty of time to get back to the likes of Owen Wilson and others whose 15 minutes must be just about up. It was nice to be immersed in a film that was more of an experience than a story.
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My Review - 8.5/10
8.5/10