Overrated and boring

Rating: 5/10 (24 January 2010)

I can see why Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar for this film. His performance, as Daniel Plainview, is absolutely marvellous. I also liked the bleak tone to the film and some of the imagery and cinematography.
However, there wasn't much else that I liked about it. The role of Eli Sunday was quite a complex one and required a far better actor for it than Paul Dano. Dano has very little charisma and as such, most of the scenes with him in failed miserably. Also, the film could have benefited greatly from further character development of some of supporting cast. Plainview's seemingly senseless murders were definitely in tune with his character but we knew very little about the people he killed, so it was very difficult to care about them.
The ending was almost a saving grace for the film. I really liked it but it doesn't detract from what is, essentially, a very boring film.
Just about gets a 5/10 for Day-Lewis's performance. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this film. At all.