A movie about nothing - but not in that fun, Seinfeld-y way.

Rating: 1/10 (4 September 2010)

I'd like to state my case for why this movie doesn't belong on any top 100 list, or even a top 1,000 list.
Exhibit A: There is no story arc. Exhibit B: There is no character arc.
As brilliant and/or original as a filmmaker might be, he can't get around the need for those two things. TWBB has no story. Over the course of Plainview's life, a bunch of stuff happens. That's the best synopsis I could give you.
Also, people claim that this is a character study. Really?? How can a character study be interesting when the main character is completely stoical and one-dimensional? We never see any different sides of him. He's a callous, greedy young man at the beginning of the film, and a callous, greedy old man at the end. Wow, that's really fascinating, isn't it?
Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor, but I disagree that this is a great performance, because it demands so little of him. It basically just demands that he do a John Huston impression while acting like a cold-hearted S.O.B., which is really not as hard as it looks.
As long as I live, I doubt I will ever understand what anyone saw in this film. It was the most excruciatingly dull film I've ever had to sit through in a theater. And I've seen The Brown Bunny!