Terrible film but a great score

Rating: 3/10 (17 January 2008)

I went into this film knowing nothing and expecting nothing...I suppose nothing was what I got back from it. Let me be straight, the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis was interesting, he's a very competent actor who delivers an insightful and passionate performance. The problem with this film is that nothing happens at all. There really isn't much of a plot to it and the "twists and turns" are hackneyed and can be seen a mile away. In essence, I would say the screenplay and writing are terrible and left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
I loved "The Jungle" and I haven't read Sinclair's book, Oil, upon which this was (hopefully loosely) based but this film is the kind of pseudo-intellectual tripe that pretends it is better than it really is. I was incredibly bored throughout the entire movie though two redeeming qualities come to mind: the Score and the Cinematography. The music in the movie was fantastic. I'm not one to often notice the score of a movie, but I was instantly captivated by the string orchestra. Likewise, the wide, panoramic shots of the Texas landscape was beautiful and awe-inspiring. For these reasons I gave it a 3; though these two alone cannot make a movie. If you don't have to pay for it like I didn't; consider giving it a shot, otherwise, stay away.