Great but occasionally not good

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2008)

A difficult film to watch and difficult to sum up. Daniel Day-Lewis is as great as the Oscar suggests, portraying greed and lust for power in a way that I don't think I've ever seen before. I hated the character, but the writing gave him just enough vulnerability to make sure that he didn't cease to be human. The weirdest thing about the rich and powerful is their inability to stop when they've got enough and this was perfectly brought to life. I felt Paul Dano was a bit overrated - he looked great but I felt his performance was just what I would expect from any competent actor. Ciaran Hinds and the rest of the cast were underused and never really came to life. The music was great in parts, but occasionally overdone. The first part of the film was perhaps the most daunting I've ever seen - an extraordinary sense of foreboding - a feeling of the fragility and awfulness of life. I haven't put that very well but watch and you'll know what I mean. My main niggles are the lack of any real characters other than DDL, and the overuse of the religious subplot. I felt that the preacher was given too big a role. The overwriting of this aspect suggested that the story was about commerce v religion, which it wasn't really. Nonetheless, I'm glad that people can still make films like this - Hollywood needs to be reminded that it's not just about money. The monstrous greed of Daniel Plainview could serve as a metaphor for a Hollywood bigshot's worldview, as well an oilman, a dictator etc etc.