Ponderous, monotonous, self important and about an hour too long.

Rating: 2/10 (28 March 2008)

I've heard 'There Will Be Blood' described as a portrait of an unlikable man. Sadly that also makes the movie itself completely unlikable. It's beautifully framed and Daniel Day-Lewis is undoubtedly a consummate actor, however, as a piece of entertainment 'Blood' is weaker than water. It is ponderous, portentous and overly self-important. Other than the son and his wife who we hardly see, there are no characters to like or relate to. The scenery is repetitive and bleak, the colours are monotonous. The film drags along like an overly long opera  or an epic funeral dirge. Which brings me to the award for the worst score ever. OK, I'm sure there are worse, but this movie contained some of the most annoying, inappropriate and ill-timed 'music' I've ever heard. From headache inducing modern classical  which mainly seemed to consist of murdering the entire string section, to something I could only describe as horror suspense with detuned orchestral stabs usually reserved for budget slashers. It was like I was watching the wrong soundtrack - none of what I was hearing seemed to fit with what I was seeing. If you plan to watch this at the theatre, take your ipod and crank it up, otherwise wait for the DVD and hit mute. You won't miss much and your ears will thank you for it. Judging by the high rating the movie has here 'There Will Be Blood' is obviously high art and I missed the point. But I know what I like and this is one portrait that ain't going' on my wall.