Cinematography Compensates for Soft Storyline

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2008)

Upton Sinclair is famous for his novels dealing with the heavy social injustices brought on with the industrial revolution. The essence of "There Will be Blood" is a social critique -- highlighting how man's greed and thirst for power ruins not only those around them, but also the individual. Current movies rarely provide such a powerful subtext, partially for fear of being preachy and turning off the audience. But, this movie succeeds on this front. The cinematography made this movie, while the soundtrack was an important vehicle for enhancing the visual -- even if it sounded at times borrowed from the hit TV show "Lost" with its dissonance chords.
The movie fell short, however, on a number of fronts for what I would deem a truly great movie. While Daniel Day Lewis' performance won him "Best Actor," did we not essentially see the same type of character and performance in "Gangs of New York?" The movie was way too long -- pushing three hours -- which inevitably leads to questions regarding editing. For an "A-team" delivered product, there is no excuse for slow spells. Most importantly -- the underlying story, related conflict, and main character development was weak for a best-picture nominee. There was little meaningful change in any of the characters. The plot was predictable and at times slow moving. The storyline generated little empathy or emotional engagement, despite the powerful underlying message.