Excellent, gutsy filmmaking

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2012)

This is a compelling family drama charting one man's rise and fall as he ruthless exploits oil in the American west. It has everything you could want from a great Hollywood movie: subtlety, excellent acting, a thoughtful and intelligent script and quite wonderful cinematography.
It's a film in which the oil is a supporting character in itself, and the series of unfortunate deaths and accidents that beleaguer our leading man reminded me of Emile Zola's excellent novel, Germinal. Daniel Day-Lewis gives another assured performance here, living and breathing rather than merely acting his role, and watching his growing feud with the slimy preacher is the stuff of great cinema. All in all a wonderful, epic film, old fashioned in the best possible sense.