Good, in spite of weak direction ...

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2008)

PTA really needs to get over himself. He is far from a great filmmaker. Although I quite enjoyed the movie and am glad I saw it, I think there are many flaws in the sketchy (as in lightly sketched vs deep) storytelling of There Will Be Blood. Where is the character depth, the motivations, the background and the context to these events and this man's tale?
I did enjoy the tipping see-saw balance of power between Plainview and the Preacher. I do not, however, share everyone's accolades for Paul Dano. He did his best, but he was ill-suited for this role as a morally ambiguous preacher.
Also -- SPOILER -- the part when Plainview rubs mud in the preacher's mouth came out of nowhere! Huh?
-- end spoiler--
The only thing that maintained my interest in this movie was the intensity and ferocity of the magnificent performance by Daniel Day Lewis.
Although I have to begrudgingly admit that the director was, in part, responsible for eliciting such a stunningly fierce and chilling performance, I doubt very much that even a crappy director would be left with a crappy performance from Day Lewis. I just don't think he's capable of giving less than his all. He is truly one of the greatest actors of our generation.
Also the film's score is a complete joke and the fault largely resides with the choices of this oftentimes pretentious and perverse director. The score is far too attention seeking and emotionally inconsistent. Although I applaud a director that takes a risk with an atypical score for a Hollywood movie, this one misfires too often to be considered successful.
Still, There Will Be Blood is definitely worth seeing, for Daniel Day Lewis, for a decent yet bare-bones story and for seeing what not to do when you are at the helm of a big Hollywood movie with a large budget.