Mediocre review, Superb film

My review of There Will Be Blood from February 2008 ("I drink your Milkshake!")

PAUL Thomas Anderson’s Oscar winning film There Will Be Blood is truly deserving of its numerous accolades. The film, based on Thomas Sinclair’s novel Oil! perfectly showcases the unbelievable talent of its star Daniel Day-Lewis and is a demonstration of cinema at its very best –visually striking, captivating and challenging.

Rightly recognised at last week’s Academy Awards for his performance in the film, Daniel Day-Lewis’s Daniel Plainview is unnerving and vicious right from the start.

There Will Be Blood follows the story of ‘oil man’ Plainview and his adoptive son H.W as they follow the American Dream rising up from the bottom rung to the very top by taking advantage of the oil boom in the United States at the turn of the century.

Whilst the first section of the film is almost wordless, the director, star and composer leave the viewer in no doubt as to the brutal nature of the film and the character of Plainview himself.

Whilst it could be easy to get distracted by Day-Lewis’ superb performance, There Will Be Blood by no means hides its other achievements as Jonny Greenwood’s menacing score, Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterful direction and Paul Dano’s performance as both Eli and Paul Sunday more than make themselves known.

Previously seen in Little Miss Sunshine, Dano is a revelation particularly as the evangelical Eli Sunday, more than holding his own next to Day-Lewis. It will be interesting to see how Dano’s career progresses, but with his performance in There Will Be Blood it looks very promising.

There Will Be Blood is a truly astounding achievement by Anderson and all involved. Dark and menacing it will stay with you long after you’ve left the cinema with its striking landscapes, mesmerising performances and haunting score.