Horrible, even if you love the Directors previous films.

Rating: 1/10 (28 January 2008)

This movie was horrible. Absolutely so far off the themes of the novel OIL! by Upton Sinclair. I can't even begin to explain what a letdown this trash is. Evidently Hollywood is still unable to effectively tackle the struggle of Communism vs. Capitalism, even as portrayed by a well-known and respected socialist/liberal like Upton Sinclair. Most people will have not read the novel but let me just state the following: The son, H.W. (know as Bunny in the book) is Plainfield's real son and he never goes deaf. He is not an orphan and sees his mother regularly. The father, again Plainfield, does not kill anyone in cold blood. Eli doesn't play a major role in anything, the son is never sent away. The father and son don't fight. Plainfield is not an evil man, but a prosperous capitalist who cares about his workers, the lives of them and their families and so on, because it is in his best interest. Bunny, is a communist/socialist/union sympathizer who spends his fathers money bailing out his socialist, pro-union, and communist friends, skipping classes at the private college he attends, and having sex with movie stars and other wealthy women. That is just a taste of how far out the movie is from the book... Again, this is a horrible movie that took parts, very vaguely, from a great book and turned them into crap that over-glorifies evil and death and ties them to oil for the sake of protesting modern times. Don't go see, don't rent, don't watch on TBS 5 years from now.