A shallow film with some great performances

Rating: 6/10 (16 January 2008)

The real reason to see this movie is for Daniel Day-Lewis's incredible performance which reminded me of his performance in GANGS OF NEW YORK crossed with Jack Nicholson's in THE SHINING.
My biggest criticism of the movie is that it didn't follow through on the whole theme of the price of modernity. The price of modernity is even more of an issue today than it was in 1911, and on both an international and local scale. An outsider comes to town and suggests you compromise your way of life, and in return, society in general will prosper, but nowhere near as much as the stranger will prosper. And who's to say whether or not society really prospers?
All of this is fascinating, philosophically dense stuff, so it was a let down for me that the movie abandoned this theme and went for the mad psychopath plot crossed with the sad billionaire plot that we've seen before in countless other movies. I definitely recommend the movie, Daniel Day-Lewis's performance is certainly worth the price of admission, but from a thematic point of view, the movie is much more thin than it ought to have been.