It's Complicated

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2014)

It's tough to recommend this to the usual crowd. The cinematography by Robert Elswit (who won an Oscar for his effort) and his team stands above any other I have ever experienced. Mr. Elswit bypasses any camera tricks and movie magic and sticks to tradition to create beautiful, sweeping vistas that sit next to the dark themes of the film in a striking juxtaposition. Mr Day-Lewis (who also received an Oscar for his work) turns in the best performance of his career and one that will stand through the ages as a triumphant portrayal of an incredibly complex and flawed man. The OST by Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead fame) is haunting and jarring, especially in the scene where young HW Plainview loses his hearing in the derrick explosion. Greenwood's percussive track lays out chaotic drums layered over one another as the film happens silently in the background.
These are all things that I can tell anyone and convince them that it is a technically proficient film, but it's more than that. It's complicated. The film's completeness is somewhat of a marvel, telling years worth of story over its' admittedly drawn-out 158 minutes. To me it never felt long, though I can understand anyone's complaints about length.
Again, these are all tangible things. These are things anyone can see. But when you take these things into account, I can't recommend the film to anyone. Not my wife, not my film buff friends. Not you, anonymous reader. I cannot recommend it because I'm selfish. I want to relish this film all by myself. I want to discuss it with myself and shake my own hand for loving it. I want it to sit atop my list of favorite films and no one else's. I want Paul Thomas Anderson to call me and thank me for loving the film that he made expressly for me.
Why? This is the film that I feel perfectly expresses the medium. The frames of this film feel sacred and hollowed. The first time you see the film may be the only time you see it. There has not been another occasion where I have found it appropriate to watch this film again. It sits in my mind, perched high on the mountain of other movies I have seen and calls down to me, invoking the feelings I experienced the first time I watched. The melancholy washes over me and physically changes my mood.
Should you watch this film? No. Leave it all to me.