There was..... only Daniel Day Lewis's charisma

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2008)

Maybe I have gotten so used to Hollywood action blockbusters that I have just lost any sense to appreciate a very fine, sophisticated movie. Or, maybe There Will Be Blood simply failed to deliver the message it sought. I don't know.
Or, maybe I am just annoyed that after spending more than two hours of my time, I didn't get a good, satisfying, and titillating climax. To make a bad analogy, after watching the movie I felt like last summer when I invested a whole month's time and a good deal of money on some lady I was attracted to at first sight, only to find out in the end that there can be less than meets the eye.
I concede that the two hours went by without bore or snore. That is because I was thinking I was gonna get something if I persevered. But in the end, all I got was the only thing they couldn't fail to deliver, Daniel Day Lewis's mesmerizing acting and charismatic voice, although, I admit I would gladly trade two hours of mine for any kind of role DDL plays.
I now think my biggest disappointment is that I wished dearly to like Daniel Plainview. I wanted him to be a hero, doing something extraordinary or maybe become betrayed and get a deeply satisfying revenge. Or at least be a decent love story. But no no, there are no heroes in this movie. Its all about reality and how sick it can be, especially when the main character in the movie doesn't have convincing depth of character. To me, the movie failed to either make me like or hate the characters. It was all too remote, too detached, and too fragmented. Good acting can go a long ways, especially in the Academy Awards, but it alone does not win the heart of the viewers; it needs a good plot to begin with.
Will someone do Daniel Day Lewis justice and give him the role of his career, which I wish is yet to come, given his skill and talent?