Beautifully captured, but plagued by length and tone issues

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2008)

Going in, I was not exactly sure what to expect of There Will Be Blood. I was never too interested in the film leading up to awards season, but slowly warmed up to the idea of seeing it (if only because of the buzz around Daniel Day-Lewis and the film's eventual Oscar nominations). Yet even a day after seeing it, I am still a bit perplexed about it.
There Will Be Blood is a little hard to describe. At once, it is a frenzy of good and evil themes, centred on a gold miner turned oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis). He travels through the southern United States with his son H.W. (Dillon Freasier), buying up properties and making money off the oil on the land. On a chance tip, he ends up in California on the Sunday ranch, a rich potential source of oil. And here he meets up with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a preacher and prophet in a local church, whose religion is not Plainview's forte.
The film follows from here, as people know, with Plainview's gradual change of heart from a good natured oil man, to a greedy and self-absorbed money maker. It follows a few subplots here and there, but the main focus is on Plainview.
And I think that is where some of the film's problems lie. At 158 minutes, the film has that grand epic aura about it, but the story stalls far too often for it to truly be legendary. I found it only worked in small strands, frequently jumping from time flying right by, to it dragging its heels through the oil. I got bored a few times watching, and for a movie that has more than its share of exciting moments, it truly says a lot. It is bogged down with too much filler for its own good. I realize it had to stay with the whole epic tone, but it just does not stay consistent at all. The subplots, as few as they are, never seem to truly feel resolved or even worthwhile. I really liked the material between Plainview and his son, but the relationship between him and Eli Sunday is never truly explored as well as it should be. For such a strong force in the film, Dano is not given nearly enough to do (even with two roles). When they clash on screen, it is pure magic. But there is not nearly enough of it. And all of the useless moments with Plainview's brother are just that. And for such a coldly serious film (with a rather oddly bizarre score), there were way too many "funny" scenes. If the only way to silence the audience is for a character to be brutally murdered, I think there is a problem.
What I did find most interesting about the film was its unique use of action. It takes almost twenty minutes for any cast member to speak (other than a few grunts from Day-Lewis), and all the entirety of the introduction to both Plainview and H.W. is done through movement and sound. It was not something I was used to, especially with a modern American film in 2008, but it brought a certain sense of beauty and majesty to the film. It allows for a lot less to be said about some of these characters, but it also makes for a greater amount of depth to be absorbed. Paul Thomas Anderson could have easily used an immense amount of dialogue (or voice-over like in No Country for Old Men), but the uncommon method works brilliantly for this film. As it goes on, it uses more dialogue, but it still has many focal points built upon speak-free scenes, and almost all of them work more than the last.
The film's art and set direction and cinematography are simply breathtaking. There is a massive amount of detail in every scene, and the massive amount of work bringing to life is awe-inspiring. The one long take involved a flaming oil well is frightening and beautifully captured at the same time. The bright visuals, contrasting with the ever darkening material are just one of the film's strong suits. Anderson has always been a very visual storyteller, and he does not change his ways here. In fact, he matures even further, and gives a great idea of what we should continue to expect from him (and obviously his amazingly talented crew).
Day-Lewis, for all of his acclaim, is really good. Not Gangs of New York good, but good nonetheless. His work here is still miles ahead of the competition, but I think I was just expecting too much. He commands every scene he is in, and he's ridiculously over the top as he seems to pride himself on being (especially in the popular "milkshake" scene), but his effortless look throughout the movie looked to me like he just was not enjoying himself at all. His richly layered character is brought to the screen magnificently, but what is the point if you do not get any fun doing it? I was consistently thinking of Bill 'The Butcher' throughout the entirety of the film, and only a handful of times did he ever come close to matching the sharpness and complexity of that character.
I was actually much more impressed by Dano. After Little Miss Sunshine last year, and There Will Be Blood this year, he is truly beginning to make a name for himself. His powerful performance holds its own against Day-Lewis, and he shines exquisitely when it is just him on-screen, or just having Plainview sitting and viewing in the background. I only wish he got more recognition.
There Will Be Blood is a brilliantly captured film that has more than a few problems with its story and tone. It packs some great performances, but just do not go in thinking it will be the best of the year.
7/10.