Can you make a film whose protagonist isn't exactly a nice guy

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2008)

There Will Be Blood 9-3-08
Can you make a film whose protagonist isn't exactly a nice guy? Its a rule right..the protagonist has to be a righteous do-gooder or everyman or smarmy anti hero you love to hate etc... Daniel Plainview (our hero and i use the term loosely for the evening) is certainly none of these things. This aspect above all others is what makes TWBB a challenging film. The film asks us to spend two plus hours with a real a$$ hole, a jerk concerned only with his own personal gain...at least thats how he seems on the surface. Is there more to him than meets the eye...suffice to say there are no third act revelations that fill the audience with warm fuzzies causing the audience to look around exclaiming "he's not so bad". No the film ends with Daniel brutally murdering the films antagonist...yeah not exactly the Hollywood ending we've all been programmed to expect. The films ability to challenge doesn't end with its main character...here we have a film concerned with silence juxtaposed with a harsh unusual score. The narrative pace is steady as is matched by it editorial style that seems to hold a shot much longer than we're used to. No cutting to each close up every time a line is uttered in a dialog scene etc... A word on performances...Daniel Day-Lewis is remarkable as the afore mentioned Daniel Plainview. For the duration of the film he IS Daniel Plainview...period. Paul Dano had one heck of hard job...share the screen with DDL and try not to look like a fool. He certainly stepped up to the plate and gives a fine performance here. Dillon Freasier performance is also of note...subtle and authentic.