“I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!” —Daniel Plainview
Today’s quick review: There Will Be Blood. At the dawn of the 20th century, oilman Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) searches the United States for land to buy up and drill for oil. With his young son HW (Dillon Freasier) in tow, he embarks on his latest venture: drilling a well in the small town of Signal Hills, California. But Daniel’s ambition soon brings him into conflict with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a passionate local preacher.
There Will Be Blood is a historical drama about an oilman’s attempts to expand his business while raising his son. There Will Be Blood is a sober look at the cutthroat origins of the oil industry and the peculiar combination of traits that make up Daniel Plainview. Impressive acting and a persistent sense of tension contribute to the film’s distinctive vision, but slow pacing and lack of a unifying plot make the film hard to invest in.
Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a strange but fascinating performance as Daniel Plainview. Beneath his veneer of folksy charm and humility is a darkness that becomes more apparent as the movie goes on. In addition to being a ruthless businessman, Plainview harbors a bad temper and a hatred for his fellow man that lead to shocking outbursts. At the same time, love for his son and human frailties shape him into a complex character.
The trouble is that There Will Be Blood focuses on his character to the exclusion of all else. There is no concrete story with a beginning, middle, and end, just a progression of events that fray Daniel more and more and cast light on the kind of man he truly is. The problem is exacerbated by how long the film takes to get its pieces in place, how aggressively the soundtrack tries to build suspense, and how infrequent the moments of payoff are.
The result is an ambitious character portrait without a conventional story arc or much in the way of emotional catharsis. Those who like dark, ambiguous drama for its own sake will find There Will Be Blood to be a powerful and unique watch. But many viewers will find it to be overly bleak with few qualities to redeem it.
For the tale of a prospector driven mad by greed, try The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. For a more surreal descent into madness, try Barton Fink. For a more even-keeled biography of an unconventional man, try The Aviator. For a similarly bleak and ambiguous movie with action and a more active plot, try No Country For Old Men.
8.2 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for a high degree of craftsmanship hurt by slow pacing and a lack of structure; your score will vary.