There Will Be Review

A review of "There Will Be Blood"
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis
Reviewed by Ernest M. Whiteman III

Plainly stated, this movie was robbed for the Best Picture Award. Of all the great dramas of 2007, this epic loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s "Oil!" stood head and shoulders above the rest, in scope, vision, script and most-definitely, acting.

"There Will Be Blood" is the story of Oil Tycoon Daniel Plianview’s rise in the industry. As Plainview, Day-Lewis commands your attention from the very start. His characterization had me as a viewer expecting the worst to happen, while inwardly cheering him on. Such is the magic of Day-Lewis’ performance.

Plainview arrives in a small California hamlet with his adopted son, H.W. to buy land for drilling. What plays out is a contest of wills between Plainview and the local pastor Eli Sunday, played superbly by Paul Dano.

Now, Day-Lewis does not drown out or overshadow the movie, yet he is the driving force of the story. He is supported by very capable and good actors and good acting; notably, Dillon Freasier as HW, Plainview’s "son" whom comes into his care after a rig accident, and the abovementioned Dano.

Anderson opens with Palinview working his mine, alone, to show us the type of person he is; driven, hard working, singular, and how these traits carry through the film. It is a powerful, and sometimes, moving portrayal, and wholly fascinating; much deserving of its many awards.

Why are we attracted to such characters? Think Deadwood’s Al Swearengen, think Hannibal Lecter, men acting outside of society’s norm, acting out extremis. I was indeed hoping for Plainview to triumph, but at the same time I was repulsed by his actions. It made me think of the cost to those around him. That is the power of Day-Lewis’ performance. While it can be safely said that, that alone is worth the price of admission, in the case of "There Will Be Blood", you get so much more than you expect, much like an exploding oil rig.

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And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the ending of this and the Cohen’s "No Country For Old Men". Most audiences disliked the ending of both these films. Today’s audiences are so used to big climactic ending, like Lord of the Rings, or the "shocking twist ending" that many movies have been unsuccessfully trying to emulate since "The Sixth Sense", "The Usual Suspects" and "Titanic".

For "No Country," people wanted the showdown, the bloody shoot out. While many recognized that the ending was in line with McComac’s novel, all put forth their own reasoned needs to see a bloody shootout. The Cohen’s know this, I think. They know that the audience would clamor for violence. That is simply the state of the world we live in, and to which Tommy Lee Jones’ Sheriff "wakes" to. The Cohen want us to clamor for it because they know we will want it, but the also want us to question why we want it, even though it is not true to the novel, the canon that many movie goers hold sacred. We should question that need to see violence to be satisfied with the movie. We are desensitized to it. We denounce it, yet we all yearn to see violence play out. (Iraq?)

"There Will Be Blood" simply ends, after one of the characters get his comeuppance, bloody violently. It is a violent and bloody ending, yet, still, we disliked the ending because it was too pat. We like to think we want complications, but we only wish for gore and violence. Would Plainview cutting throats of every rival ala "The Godfather" been more satisfying? I cannot say, because that is not the ending of Plainview; it is however, only the end of the movie, with Plainview simply stating, "I’m through."

Both films are considered slices of life. There is no pat ending for Jones’ Sheriff nor for Day-Lewis’ Plainview, they will continue to exist in their worlds long after the last shot fades or cuts to black. There is no shattering climax for either because the world we live in offers none. Their lives within the movies will go on, much like ours in reality, living among the violence of our continuing world...

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"There Will Be Blood" is the best picture of 2007, in my book. When it is released on DVD or the like, I implore you to see and experience it for your self.

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.