A Character Study But We Leave Wondering Who Is This Man?

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2008)

Although well done in many ways with a great mood and great acting, I felt deprived of information watching this film. Who was Daniel? What was his childhood? What is the secret hinted at in the film in Daniel's family history but never revealed? What is the story with his brother? Did he ever have a woman in his life? Who was his lieutenant, a man he seemed to trust? The movie had a chance to really tell us what kind of life would have produced this emotionally stunted nihilistic violent man but it does not. The story of the early days of oil was interesting, but the film is less that story than the story of Daniel and it is incomplete.