Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2009)

I wanted to like this movie. But I can honestly say that I just wasn't impressed by this film. The acting by Daniel Day Lewis was fine, the locations were splendid (even if the sound track was irritating and intrusive), but there just isn't anything in Daniel Plainview's character to make him the least bit sympathetic. I have to agree with other reviewers who stated that all the other characters served only to be the recipients of Plainview's tirades. Maybe if we had been given some hint as to why Daniel was so angry and bitter we could have had an understanding, and maybe a bit of empathy. I felt no more for this character at the end of the movie than I had at the beginning. There was certainly enough time for the story to be told in full and characters to have been filled out. It had so much potential, but just didn't deliver.