There will be boredom - don't believe the hype

Rating: 1/10 (10 January 2008)

This film was not true to its trailer or the ballyhoo.
Seems all a studio has to do these days is exploit the words, 'Blood', 'Evil' or 'Death' in a film title to get today's violence-rabid video game audience to buy tickets; that strategy has worked here. However, it was apparent last night the packed house was expecting astonishing raw action akin to the oft-compared, "No Country for Old Men" ...and were greatly disappointed as was I.
(NCFOM is a grisly film depicting endless murder scenes which I abhor yet told in a edge-of-your-seat thrill I admired since the eventual hopelessness it depicts matches what would most likely happen from similar events).
With TWBB, I did not seek violence as much as I sought a similar thrilling film experience -- which did not every occur in the three hours' running time of plodding scrutiny of central characters I did not understand, doing things I did not care about!
Since I don't 'get' Daniel Day-Lewis and never saw one film he's made, to see a role he prepared wha? six years for is a big stretch as I'm sure researching ways to talk like Calvin Coolidge cannot take that long! (Also, how can it be that in 1898 everyone has straggly hair yet DDL has a perfectly coifed 1940's hair-do throughout the film?)
Therefore, on many levels except for the sets and styling, this film is pure rubbish!
Also, the after-thought, sub-plot of debunking a faith healer as some sort of stab at Christianity was heresy beyond belief.
A sham minister is a sham minister but from some audience responses, it was clear some people thought this revelation of a sham faith healer validated their own mis-guided agnostic beliefs when greedy DDL makes the preacher humiliate his religion for money.
If there is some ersatz sub-text that oil represented today's Big Oil money and the preacher stood for today's fanatical religious right most people (especially downtown hipsters) cannot deal with...then the director missed the mark entirely.
The film IS shocking to me because I wasted time to see it.
If it gets any awards at all it will be solely due to Hollywood's romance with its own hype!