Trouble, Toil and Oil

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2008)

Whether "There Will Be Blood" is any good to you at all depends on whether or not you enjoy watching greedy people mastermind the undoing of other greedy people. Think of 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead', but with an extra glaze of acid laid on thick. The movie is hard to watch, and its emotional high points are moments of unbearable tension, slimy avarice, and nervous, squirming laughter. If this is the kind of thing you enjoy (I admit I do), than be all means, this is your movie. This one will also appeal to even the most casual fan of Daniel Day-Lewis, who gives a performance so earth-shaking that it renders all possible adjectives limp. As oilman Daniel Planview, Lewis creates not a man but a creature with human flaws-here is a thing that sees every facet of life in terms of what he stands to gain. It's alternately fascinating and horrifying to watch an ensemble of money-grubbers fight amongst themselves to earn the favor of Plainview, who is in turn ardently working to repel them along with the rest of humanity. In the finale, when Plainview decides to throw aside the inconveniences of law and religion to fight his battle for self-absorbed isolation, Lewis elevates a series of already good scenes to classic status. This is also your cup of tea of you like to pick apart and argue about your film fare. For example: if Plainview is working so hard to cast off the personal experience and stock up on materialism, then why do we have a scene in which Plainview shoots a stack of his recent purchases? Are even material things a burden to him? What is his definition of freedom? What is any man's definition of freedom? See! Great discussion movie. The Wrap Up: This one is for fans of: Feel-bad cinema, Daniel-Day Lewis, discussion movies This one is not for: Fans of uplift and sentimentality, impatient filmgoers, squeamish audiences. I thought: While the film sometimes sags into its own whacko zone, and the fat needed some trimming in places, this is the kind of bold, volcanic film that defines the word "originality". Definitely worth a look. B+