Inconsistent Profile of a Wildcatter

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2008)

Warning! Major spoilers ahead
"There Will be Blood" is an interesting character study of a California oil wildcatter and speculator that is sustained by excellent acting and fervent analysis of the main character's decay as he grows wealthy. The movie's main flaws, though, are some of the inexplicable plot turns and odd behaviors by the characters; for instance, Plainview's murder of a man claiming to be his brother is never satisfactorily explained, nor are Plainview's violent threats and mood swings towards the evangelical preacher, who is the antagonist of the film, or other characters, such as the representatives of a major oil conglomerate who wish to buy Plainview out. Plainview's shift from calmness to madness seems strange. This keeps the movie from being fully satisfying or coherent. Still, Daniel Day-Lewis holds his own as the enigmatic character. This movie tries desperately to be like "Citizen Kane", and the main character does seem to have a real-life counterpart to Orson Welles' Kane (Kane is a thinly-veiled depiction of William Randolph Hearst, and some sources argue that Plainview represents California oilman Edward Doheney, though J. Paul Getty may also be a likely suspect). The characters' strange inconsistencies, as well as his vague antagonism towards preacher Eli Sunday (a caricature of Aimee Semple McPherson, also a contemporary with fellow Californian Doheney?), make this movie more difficult to understand than "Kane." C.F. Kane's alienation from family and friends are clearly defined by his actions, and thus more coherent in the story; Plainview's relationship with his son, Sunday, his so-called half-brother, and oil rivals are rather opaque, and we cannot feel either sympathy or disgust with his character. In other words, I just didn't get what this film was trying to say or what it was trying to convey through Plainview's character (ironic, given the character's surname).
I wanted to see this movie because I have an interest in the history of the Old West, and I didn't know much about the oil wildcatters of the early 20th century. This movie was not too satisfying in that regard either. Still, I do recommend this movie if only for the impassioned acting of all the characters involved. You certainly cannot criticize the actors for being lethargic or uninvolved in their roles. Give this film a view, and try to glean anything I obviously missed.
P.S. I loved "DRRRRAAAINNNNAAAGGGGEEEE!!!!" It's a scene right up there with William Shatner's "KHHAAANNNN!!!"