Bloody mess--here's why...

Rating: 6/10 (30 November 2013)

There Will Be Blood was one of those movies I put off for the perfect time, just waiting to sit back and enjoy. Clocking in at 2 1/2 hours actually delighted me, as I set off thinking I'd enjoy this film, based on reputation and hype. It was one of those films I just figured I'd enjoy, having bought it sight unseen.
Yet the film is a dead film, in my view. It has no soul. There are no emotional moments. It stirs nothing in the viewer. Moreover, there are no characters to root for nor invest in. Compared to, say, The Assassination of Jesse James, a far superior film, both Jesse and Bob were at least interesting and had redeeming values. However, Daniel Plainview has none. Even if we were to compare this to the oft-compared No Country for Old Men, at least Chigur and Moss have some sense of identity. Plainview has none. He's not even somberly humorous, as are Chigur and Jesse in a number of scenes in their films. All in all, he's a dead character...
Yes, I understand what he "represents" and the "symbolism" of his greed, and how he "longed for family", and how the "blood" could represent "blood" and "blood as in family", I get all that...please don't try to convince me on those fronts. It wasn't awful, just had no soul. Was well-acted in some parts; but that doesn't make for a great story. There is no great story here. A better character study would be Sling Blade (seemed like the music was a rip off), Assassination, or No Country, as mentioned earlier. Each far surpass this "bloody mess".