He's still got it

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2009)

Has Anderson made a single bad film? This is the third picture of his that I watch(the other two being Boogie Nights and Magnolia), and he has yet to let me down. He continues to reject commercialism and the mainstream approach, and now brings us a story set during the oil boom in California, with a clash between greed and religion. The long takes and ambiguity is still present in his work, and he certainly isn't holding back on his vision, either; at no point in this does he shy away from the ills of the period. There is a tremendous level of detail to the depiction of the drilling, the machines, etc. This is immensely realistic, and partially because of that, it can be rather unpleasant at times. The plot is interesting from start to finish, and this has good pacing. Every role is well-cast, and the acting is flawless; they all disappear into their well-written, credible and well-developed characters. If I hadn't known it was Daniel Day-Lewis, I would not have been able to tell from my viewing. The editing and cinematography are excellent. This is astonishingly well-shot. The music is mostly classical pieces, and it fits beautifully. There is some brutal violence, a bit of disturbing content, and very brief moderate to strong language in this. The DVD holds a well-done fifteen minute featurette of sorts, or, in its own words, "pics, research, etc.". I recommend this to anyone who is not dissuaded by anything I have written in this review. 10/10