There Will Be Blood

And we finally have reached the last review for 2007. Screw you, I know its halfway through February but to be honest I have no idea how I was able to finish this at all. Every year I have to wait nearly a month until that final universally acclaimed movie shows up around here. This time around it was There Will Be Blood. Even though I will not be rating it as the best of movie of the year, it was definitely worth the wait. It just looked incredible and I do not have enough words of praise for Daniel Day-Lewis.

There Will Be Blood is a film where it is less about the plot and more about the character. This is the story of Daniel Plainview; his rise to power and his descent into damn near madness. Plainview is another in a long line of Day-Lewis immersions into character. With each decision he makes, you can see the level of contempt he has for everything and everyone around him. Although the story is a little long and kind of ends abruptly, the life of Plainview is so engrossing that I have very little criticism for the movie. I feel that is kind of unfair to judge other actors against Day-Lewis. His work is startling here; he has the ability to terrify me with just a stare. Maybe that’s more about me being a wuss. I can accept that.

There’s not much to say about the rest of There Will Be Blood. Everyone else just gets bulldozed by Day-Lewis. Paul Dano tries to overact enough to be noticed but all he is able to accomplish is to make me laugh. When he was “preaching” I didn’t know what to think, it was so hilariously over-the-top. And it just got worse from there. I was thankful when the bowling alley scene finally occurred.

One last note, this was a thing of beauty. Just nothingness for as far as the eye can see. I likes me some nothingness. Especially when it is accompanied by strange music.

Let's wrap this up so I can finally close 2007. There Will Be Blood; good. Daniel Day-Lewis: great. At least see this once just to experience Daniel Plainview.

9 out of 10