Not as great as they say, but still very good.

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2011)

There Will be Blood is a film that has an outstanding reputation, one that perhaps it deserves in some respects, but not in others. It's certainly a great film - well acted, well directed, good plot. But at times there are a few problems with it.
TWBB tells the story of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a prospector who will stop at nothing and destroy anything in his way in the pursuit of money. Initially, he starts as a mineral prospector who finds Gold. At the same time, he has an accident and breaks his leg in the middle of nowhere. Not a man to be stopped, he hauls himself into a town to collect the money and put his name to the mine. We know immediately that nothing will stop him.
Just a few years later, we see that he has moved on from gold to oil, in a fine cut that shows how quickly times changed between the late 1800's and the early 1900's. In another accident, Daniel acquires a step son that he raises to be his own.
Again, years later, and Daniel is now very successful. He finds a huge oil field on a ranch and leases it. But, it's almost too big for him and slowly greed and madness start to take over. We watch as this businessman turns into a relentless, unforgiving monster who turns on everyone in the end.
This film is another example of the American Dream gone wrong. But, instead of providing us with a hero, it just presents Plainview as he is - a monster who no one is supposed to like. I think that was a good way to go with the plot. You often hear people saying that they need to like a person or empathise with them for a film to be watchable. I prefer to just have a character that you can focus on, good or bad. Plainview is bad, and the film's dark plot works far more because he never gets redemption, and is never good. And there is no doubt in my mind that Daniel Day-Lewis acts Plainview to perfection. He starts as a soft spoken man and winds up a ruthless monster, and no one could have done better than Lewis.
The film also works because of its first rate location, and some very good directing. The opening shots of the film do set the standard, and throughout there are good shots and vast, open locations.
There are a few downsides to this film that prevent it from achieving total greatness. Firstly, the plot is almost too much about Plainview. We see his character through and through, but at the expense of every other character in the film. We never really know much about the son. We don't know anything about those who work with Plainview. And we never really know the true motives of the man who pretends to be Plainview's brother. Also, no questions are asked about the brother's death, even though his disappearance would be entirely noticeable.
Secondly, the Church and people in it are a bit too clichéd. I think Anderson was trying to make Eli (the religious leader) into a match for Plainview. But instead, it's just too clichéd, too fake. It would have worked more if the Church had been entirely normal.
Fortunately though, any problems with this film are hidden by Daniel Day Lewis, who is totally compelling and believable as the ruthless oil man. The overall message of the film isn't lost at all, and what we have here is a relentless story of greed and madness.
A film that borders on greatness.