Watch Daniel Day-Lewis Chew the Scenery

Rating: 4/10 (20 May 2008)

This is one of the most over-rated movies in recent history. Upton Sinclair, who wrote the novel on which this film is based, was one of the original "muckrakers," noted for his deep-rooted anger, not for his subtlety. This is an unsubtle film and, while Daniel Day-Lewis was awarded an Oscar for his starring role, I felt that, in the Upton Sinclair tradition, he acted excessively. To be sure his character was conniving and ruthless but even when he is poor and struggling to locate his first well, Day-Lewis is already portraying him as a villain to hiss. The story may develop and evolve but Day-Lewis does not (though he is sober at the beginning and a drunk at the end). Day-Lewis plays a single note throughout the picture which is disagreeable and unenlightening. Upton Sinclair belonged to a particular period in history and, far from bringing some new 21st Century insight, he is best left where he was -- in the age of the robber barons. His books are not often read today for a good reason. They are too heavy-handed -- as is "There Will Be Blood." I feel generous in rating it at "4."