Oscar Review: There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood
Release Date: December 26th 2007
Written and Directed: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano

Fuel powers everything we do, it gives us energy, it gives us ambition, it gives us greed, and it gives us the need to succeed. There Will Be Blood addresses fuel in a very interesting way. Paul Thomas Anderson hasn't made a movie since Punch Drunk Love in 2002, so when it comes to his fans There Will Be Blood is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. I was just recently introduced to Paul Thomas Anderson through his 1999 epic Magnolia . So my anticipation was short lived but strong. There Will Be Blood is a story about Daniel Plainview(Daniel Day-Lewis) loosely based on the Upton Sinclair novel from 1927 novel "Oil!" We see Daniel start out as a small silver prospector and slowly rise to oil baron, all in one completely silent 15 minute scene. He is approached by a man named Paul Sunday(Paul Dano) who tells him of the town of Little Boston, California that has oil literally leaking out of the ground. Daniel and his son H.W. travel to Little Boston and meet the other members of the sunday family. In paticular Eli Sunday(also Paul Dano) who is Paul's twin brother. More importantly Eli is a preacher of a small church within the very religious town. When drilling begins Eli and the not very religious Daniel regurarily clash. Daniel is not exactly evil, but his business seems to be fueled by greed, hiding the good man within, and when this clashes with the extreme religion of Eli's church, Daniel and his family will forever be affected.

So first off, the best performances of the year is in There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis is being nominated for just about every male acting award available and winning most of them. It is known that Daniel only takes roles that are very special to him, and he is what makes the character of Daniel Plainview show a broad range of good and evil. Child actor Dillon Freasier as H.W. Plainview shows some very early promise and is able to really show off his ability due to a plot point that I will not spoil for you. The performance I personally enjoyed the most was Paul Dano as Eli Sunday. When Little Miss Sunshine came out, I praised his performance as young angst filled son Dwayne. Some questioned the validity of his performance based on the fact that he is silent for the majority of the film, in my opinion this only adds challenge to his role and showed much more promise for him than mediocre teen movies he had been in like The Girl Next Door. Eli Sunday is hands down his best performance so far. When Eli gives his sermons he becomes eerily similar to evangelical preachers you see on TV today, screaming and yelling about "getting the demons out" with frightening intensity. It is a shame Paul couldn't pull a best supporting actor nomination from the academy, but Javier Bardem would most likely beat him anyway.

Paul Thomas Anderson proves here that his range is growing, being able to realistically portray the early 1900's in the middle of nowhere had to have been a difficult task. There Will Be Blood is not the most tightly pulled together, nor well constructed film of 2007. These faults almost add to the film, making it seem like more than your standard epic. While There Will Be Blood has a lot of factors similar to something you would see in a Scorcese biopic it also has almost Kubrick-like visuals throughout. Some might say that Paul is pulling too much from other directors, but somehow by mixing several different things together he makes a style all his own and I am sure one day a movie will be known as Anderson-like. The only minor downside to There Will Be Blood is its length. The film comes in at about 10 minutes short of 3 hours, and to some the length could be off putting. I was interested almost the entire time due to the well written dialog but those who are easily distracted will definitely be checking their watch towards the middle portion of the film.

Luckily the last 30 minutes or so take an unexpected turn that I won't give away, but I will say that the film delivers on its titles promise. Religion and Oil mixed together make blood, and when we see it run over the final frames in a deep shade of red, we need to take it as a warning about todays economy and the frequent feuds connecting religion and oil together. It is strange that a film set in the early 1900's says more about current times than any other film in 2007, but There Will Be Blood does just that and manages to be the best film of the last year.

10/10