There Will Be Blood

"There Will Be Blood" takes place as an tale of looking for potential lands for the mining of oil fields in the start of the 1900's. Due to its long running lenth, the film is divided into 4 main parts for me, and the film is very compelling in the first 2 parts, Daniel Day-Lewis is probably a shoo-in for nabbing another Best Actor Oscar trophy (not just a nomination), but it's well-deserved as he creates an indelible character in Daniel Plainview who commands your attention from the get-go and takes the viewers on a dark journey as his oil field prospects grow and unexpected fatherhood presents both a blessing and later an encumberance that he is ill-equipped to deal with in light of family tragedy.

For the remainder of the film, the later situations and conflicts in his life reveal a black heart, a willingness to do what's needed to achieve personal and business objectives, and deal with lies and deceit. Plainview is by no means a kind-hearted man, it'd be almost too easy to classify him as misanthropic, and he never shies away from doing the dirty work (looking for oil requires getting down and dirty in more ways than one).

Director P.T. Anderson is maturing as a filmmaker, as his new-found cinematic pacing is finally allowing the stories to unfold without the need for flashy tracking shots, or spastic edit-cuts, as the story doesn't require them. His screenplay does play out as present-day allegorical components with the main characters in the tale, though, as the film goes into its 2nd half, its dramatic tension slacks, and the story becomes more personal, but not more intimate. It feels like a detour, but not with as much dramatic pay-off to warrant such a detour. The final stanza is sufficient to close the story, but by the time it concludes, the story feels even smaller and distraught as Plainview's last line says it all.

What was interesting was how serious the 1st half of the film plays out, but after building up the characters, we are treated to some dramatically comedic scenes in the 2nd half, and you can't help but laugh with (not at) the characters and the situations in which they put themselves. This was unexpected, but perfectly welcomed given the amount of set up earlier in the film.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.