There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Runtime: 158 minutes

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciaran Hinds, Dillon Freasier

From: Paramount/Miramax

To think that this movie was even better the second time than the first time around, back a decade ago: 

Here is a film I saw theatrically shortly before the 2008 Oscars, then did not watch again until last night. I just never got around to it; it is not an indictment of the movie's quality... I thought it was great then and a decade later I actually appreciate it more now. “I'll drink your milkshake” became a popular phrase for awhile but TWBB is much more than just that. Others have done a great job waxing poetic about why this has become so beloved by so many and no way could I match that poetry; still, I'll say a few words about this and note that the movie is also poetry, and definitely best seen if this has eluded you.

Loosely based on the Upton Sinclair novel Oil, the plot is focused on Daniel Plainview as he moves from being a silver miner to entering the world of oil. He is such a remorseless character, he adopts a young boy of a man who dies in an accident... mainly to present a “family man” image and be more sympathetic to investors as he rips them off all in the name of greed. He engages in a battle of wills with Eli Sunday, a pastor who happens to have oil located on the family property.

A key for this movie is that despite Plainview being a pretty despicable human being who does some rather heinous actions, the character is pretty layered and rich... the fact that he was played by Daniel Day-Lewis was icing on top of a tasty cake. The film spans a few decades and is always compelling as you spend 2 ½ hours with such a character; it's a movie you need to be patient with and hopefully you'll find the entire experience was worth it.

Almost as equally important is his dealings with Sunday. As you might know, it was originally not the plan for Paul Dano to play both Eli and his twin brother Paul; however, the original actor to play Eli (Kel O'Neill) was let go so they went with the twin brothers deal. Despite urban legend, O'Neill was not scared off by Day-Lewis and his method acting. Rather, it was decided he was not the right fit for the role so they went the twin route instead. I can say for certain that Dano was superb in both roles & Eli is a complex character himself.

The early 20th century in the western portion of the United States was really brought to life and there is some tremendous cinematography from Robert Elswit-I have heard that the movie looks bad on DVD so HD streaming or Blu (the way I saw this) is the way to go. Johnny Greenwood's score is note-perfect (pun intended) in setting the mood for so many scenes. The movie is quite the journey and I was so happy to go on such a journey again.