Gravy and Biscuits

DVD Review: ‘There Will Be Blood’

Posted by Gravy Guest in Saturday, April 12th 2008

Movie Poster

I’m not really sure what to put in a movie review, so here goes.

I just finished watching There Will Be Blood. This movie is about a prospector named Daniel Plainview, whose prospects for digging lead him to become an “oilman” in the early 20th century. He eventually finds his way to a small town sitting on a vast oil deposit, and ends up butting heads with the local church and their preacher.

The movie was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Daniel Day-Lewis. At first, when I saw the previews for this movie, I figured it would put me to sleep. The more I saw of the hype, I knew I would have to watch it and finally started to look forward to it. Due to someone controlling my financial resources, I had to wait until it came out on DVD to see it. The hype is well deserved and well worth the wait.

This movie is not for those of us who can only enjoy those action-filled, plotless two hours of guns blazing and barely clothed women. At two and a half hours, it takes a little more patience than most have with movies, even though more good movies last longer nowadays. This movie is subtle in almost every aspect. The action is few and far between. Those parts which contain violence are usually monumental as these are supposed to be realistic characters. This movie is based on a book, Oil!, by Upton Sinclair. I have not read this book, but usually this author delivers the most groundbreaking of novels (I.E. The Jungle).

Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance is remarkable. His former roles have been vastly praised, but this role could easily make anyone see any other movie he is in for the rest of his career. The dialog is not too heavy, not too light, but when he speaks in this movie, you will relish every word. A true appreciation of the character can be derived from his performance. Daniel Plainview starts out in complete silence for the first part of the movie. In fact, the whole first part was absent of dialog. It almost spoke to the whole tone of the movie, just those first few minutes of Daniel digging for gold and silver in his hole. As the story progresses, Daniel becomes more and more of a businessman, and slowly the audience is let into his mind. They see his rise to riches, and in the end, his fall into madness.

Our antagonist, Eli (Paul Dano), is a preacher in this small community. He is the son of the first homestead Daniel seeks to purchase, and demands money for his church constantly. The church becomes and bothersome pest to Daniel and slowly he and Eli butt heads up to the end of the movie. Paul Dano’s performance is a wonderful portrayal of when religion goes bad, and will probably set him up for future great roles.

In conclusion, this film should be at the top of everyone’s list. It doesn’t matter what kind of movie you enjoy, this film should make you appreciate how a movie should come together. The direction, actors, soundtrack, photography, and just general luck came together in the glorious display that is this movie. I usually find something to enjoy in every movie I watch (except princess movies), but I would hard pressed to find something in this movie that I didn’t like, or could do without. Everything was so well-pieced. I hope that you can find my rantings useful.

Posted By: Josh McRae