There Will Be Blood

Even if There Will Be Blood was a bad movie, it'd almost be worth seeing for Daniel Day-Lewis' lead performance. It's a chilling and gripping portrayal of a man slowly gripped by madness and power, and we watch his character descend from scheming con man to flat-out monster. Fortunately, there's more to recommend here. Acclaimed writer-director Paul T. Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love) tries something different with a period piece set around the turn of the 20th Century, and the career of a conniving Oil Man. Loosely based on the novel "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood is a mostly mesmerizing film that only starts to lose its hold ever so slightly during the final half.

When we first meet Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), he's a struggling prospector mining for gold. He discovers much more than he bargained for when he comes across an underground oil supply in the earth. Flash forward a couple years later, and Daniel is one of the most powerful men in the oil industry. He travels the nation with his partner and son, H.W. Plainview (Dillon Freasier), to look for more oil-rich land to appease his growing business empire and personal lust for fortune. He receives a tip from a man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) that his family's ranch property is rich with the substance Daniel desires. Daniel buys the ranch property, under the false intention that it will help the local community, and immediately is overcome with greed as he sets his men to work. Not even his own family seems to eventually matter, as when his young son loses his hearing after a freak explosion accident, Daniel simply sends him away and abandons him. Despite interference from Paul's twin brother, a local preacher and faith healer named Eli (once again, Paul Dano), Daniel obtains the wealth he so desires, despite losing just about everyone else around him.

Despite its attention-grabbing title, There Will Be Blood is mostly leisurely and laid back in its pacing. In fact, the film's opening 15 minutes or so chronicling Daniel's initial discovery of oil and the beginnings of his business, contains virtually no dialogue whatsoever. Where the movie instantly grabs your attention is in the details. It creates an accurate portrayal of the time of history where the story is set, and also in the process and dangers which were common in extracting oil from the land back in the day. The story is told mostly through the point of view of Daniel, and he is such a complex character, it's amazing that the film can keep up with him. He is simultaneously charming, sympathetic, sly, strong, scheming, smart, loving, angry, and all around complicated. He begins the film as a smart and somewhat dishonest businessman, but during the two and a half hours or so that the story runs, we watch his personality change into something much more bitter and hateful. This is not so much an epic detailing the early oil industry, rather it is a study of a man who loses his mind and his soul to his own greed and passions. Writer-director Anderson makes Daniel a character impossible to turn away from, no matter how repulsive his character becomes to the audience. He does this by slowly drawing us into his mind and his world, so that while we may not sympathize with him by the end of the story, we have spent enough time with the character that we can see and understand how it led up to where we find him in the film's later scenes.

More than the character of Daniel himself, it is the performance by Day-Lewis that is the real revelation here. He has been rightfully nominated for his work here, and if there is any justice, he will win. This is the most captivating performance of any film I can remember from those released in 2007. He is able to make the character menacing, yet also charming and strangely human at the same time. He is someone who is literally torn in two emotionally for a good part of the film. On one hand, his never-ending desire for wealth and power forces him to isolate himself from just about everyone around him. And yet, at the same time, we can also see some form of compassion, such as the way he looks at his son before the accident. We sometimes can't tell if that look of love is genuine, or as false as many of the promises he makes to those around him, but there is always a glimmer of humanity in the performance that allows us to remain attached to him. It is one of those rare performances that makes us truly forget that we are watching an actor on the screen. Day-Lewis believably portrays the character at different stages in the 30 or so years the story covers in his life, so that by the time the film is winding down, we feel as if we've been right there along with him the entire time.

If none of the other performances quite captivate as much as his, then it's certainly not for lack of trying. The film has rounded up a strong all-around cast, with special praise deserved for young Dillon Freasier as Daniel's son. The character is a particularly tragic one, as he is probably the most loyal to his father, only to be betrayed by the man he has trusted over the years. The final encounter between Daniel and the now-adult H.W. is a heartbreaking scene, and a perfect end to the relationship between the two characters. Paul Dano also deserves mention, especially for his intense portrayal of local preacher Eli. He matches Day-Lewis' performance in just about every scene they share, and it's almost hard to believe it's the same guy who played the mostly-mute and emotionally distant teenage son in the 2006 indie hit, Little Miss Sunshine. Perhaps more so than the performances, it is the technical credits that also get us involved. The sweeping barren landscapes shot by cinematographer Robert Elswit gives the film an appropriately isolated and desolate tone, while the music score provided by Jonny Greenwood (of the band Radiohead) provides a growing sense of dread that matches Daniel's moral descent during the course of the film.

It is not until the film is winding down that There Will Be Blood starts to lose some of its sure footing. Aside from the final sequence between Daniel and his son, much of the ending seems dragged out, and lacks the human touch that has been present throughout. In the final moments, Daniel almost seems evil in a cartoonish sense, and while the performance is still wonderful, I felt like I had lost my connection with the character. Up until the final 20 minutes or so, this is a nearly pitch-perfect film that hits almost all the right notes, aside from a couple sequences that easily could have been trimmed. These flaws prevent There Will Be Blood from being my favorite film of the year, but it easily contains my favorite performance of 2007.

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