Very long, drawn out, and in the end pointless

Rating: 3/10 (21 March 2008)

I went into this film not really knowing anything about it (apart from Daniel Day-Lewis winning the Oscar). And I left without really knowing anything about it.
The film starts with a fairly long segment without any dialogue, which actually I thought was quite good. A brave move in this modern day, and one which I think worked. I couldn't quite work out why the central character was mining for silver one day, then suddenly drilling for oil, but that's immaterial.
The second act (after DDL has adopted the son of a dead worker, for what one would imagine are altruistic reasons) involves the mining of oil in a small Northern California town. Again, this worked pretty well - going to the town, buying up drilling rights from the townsfolk by conning them etc. Then HW (the central character's adopted son) is made deaf in an accident, and suddenly the film changes direction.
Most of the second half of the film is confused, and in the end pointless. One minute you feel sorry for the central character, having to send his son (whom he clearly cares for) away to school. The next he doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself.
The whole "long lost brother" subplot could have been excised from the film without any real loss to the story. In fact, most of the last half of the film could have been lost, and this would have been a better film.
I haven't read the original book on which the film is based, but I assume it is a character piece, with several vignettes in the life of the central character. On film, this just didn't work.
If you are convinced to go and see this film, take a cushion, as it is overtly long. 3 / 10 mainly because the central performance is so riveting.