Atmospheric and thought provoking

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2008)

From the opening scenes, this film draws you in with its beautiful cinematography and haunting score. You can almost feel the dirt and heat of the desert. The still "Wild" West of early 1900's America comes alive. This movie works well as a historical drama, yet has something much deeper (and bleak) to say about American culture.
Daniel Day-Lewis shines as Daniel Plainview, an oil-man obsessed with making a fortune at any cost. He's heartless, greedy and increasingly insane. In many ways he represents the unbridled greed of capitalism. Exploitation, back-stabbing and even death are all simply part of doing business. Dollar bills carry more weight than human lives.
There Will Be Blood is a fairly nihilistic story. Whether it's through unchecked big business or false religion, people are exploited. In the end, you're left wondering what the point of it all was. In my opinion, this ambiguity is quite intentional. The film's very essence is about people traveling down self-destructive paths that lead to nowhere.
This is a gorgeous, epic film about American capitalist culture and the dark side of human nature.