There Will Be Blood

One of my birthday traditions involves seeing a movie in a theatre. Since Cindy had to work, I went to one I figured she wouldn't like, but I would. I thought Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood would fit the bill.

You'd think a nearly three-hour movie would drag on into your next birthday, especially a movie about an oil tycoon in the late 19th century. In fact the first 15 minutes (containing almost no dialogue) reminded me (and other reviewers) of the opening of 2001. Without the apes, of course. Yet those opening minutes are essential in establishing and developing the character of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis).

Roger Ebert said in his review that "Watching the movie is like viewing a natural disaster that you cannot turn away from." I'd agree with that statement. We get a piece-by-piece look at Plainview and slowly begin to see what he's really about and it's not pretty.

The film encompasses three decades but most of it takes place as Plainview strikes a deal with the humble Sunday family, offering them a pittance for their oil-rich property. Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), who sees Plainview's arrival as an opportunity to finance the building of his Church of the Third Revelation, becomes a central figure in Plainview's life, someone who just won't go away.

Plainview carries on two other relationships in the film, one with his young son and another which I'll let you discover for himself. I keep dwelling on how Plainview reacts to each of these people. He's only honest with one of them and that scene is the turning point of the film. After that moment, the ending (which is perfect) comes as both a shock and inevitable. How can such a thing be? You'll just have to see the film.

There's not a false note in There Will Be Blood. The entire film is an incredible achievement, but the film belongs to Daniel Day-Lewis, an extraordinary actor who delivers what may be the best performance of the year.