Review of There Will Be Blood (2007) by Joseph F — 24 Apr 2015

The second shot of There Will Be Blood features a gruff and dirtied man drinking out of a mug while the wind picks up and a thunderstorm brews in the background. Within the first minute, we are introduced to the dark, isolated world of Daniel Plainview. Over the course of There Will Be Blood's 158 minute runtime, he leaves his indelible mark on cinema history.

There Will Be Blood, at heart, is essentially a character study. It's pretty much the anti-Citizen Kane. Daniel Plainview is a character so reprehensible, so morally lacking, so irritable, yet so ambitious and brilliant it's hard not to sympathize with his plights. It's interesting to note that the opening sequence of the film shows the audience that Plainview's own hard work got him where he is, and he isn't just some privileged asshole. Daniel Day-Lewis exquisitely crafts a character like none other, and truly deserves all the accolades he gets for this movie. Plainview eventually meets his match in Paul Dano's Eli Sunday (whose performance stands up pretty well compared to Day-Lewis's even though Dano wasn't originally cast for the role), an evangelical preacher whose own ambition matches Plainview's. The character dynamic between the two is utterly fantastic; this includes a fantastic baptism scene that showcases the incredible talent of Day-Lewis. Suffice it to say, the character dynamic is more than enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen during the film.

This is a film that's short on plot but heavy on story, in the sense that only a few scenes play a crucial role in how the story plays out. This may be off-putting to some viewers but if you enter the film with an open mind, those notions will quickly be dismissed. Most of the success of the movie is due in part to the combined efforts of director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson, who fashions a meticulous portrait of early 20th century America, Day-Lewis ('nuff said) and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, whose electrifying score builds a sinister undercurrent to the events portrayed on screen.

Although No Country for Old Men (another great film) beat out this one for "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards, I still think There Will Be Blood deserves it a bit more. It's a film that is atmospheric, haunting, and darkly funny (look no further than the "cut your throat" line and the final scene). It is, above all, a cautionary tale, demonstrating how one's own ambition can ultimately be their downfall.

That, and it's a fantastic adherent for milkshakes, too.