There Will Be Blood Review

There Will Be Blood has been maybe the most anticipated film of the year. Only No Country for Old Men has gotten the kind of press There Will Be Blood has gotten, and the reviews are pretty close as well. The only difference I have seen between No Country and Blood is that there are people who absolutely love Blood and hate it, while almost everyone seems to at least like No Country. As it happens, I happen to be one that loves There Will Be Blood and it is right near the top of my list of best films of the year.
There Will Be Blood is about oil-tycoon Daniel Plainview played by Daniel-Day Lewis who goes from town to town draining there oil from the ground and selling it out. But things get rough when he is hired to work in a new town, this one with a combative faith-healer who matches wits with Plainview. The two continue to try and one up each other from there, moving in an out-of-control spiral of violence and hate.
Daniel-Day Lewis' performance is one of the best in decades and one of the finest all time. It is a deep, angry character with some heart, but is slowly losing his mind and any heart he had. Paul Dano also does an excellent job as the faith-healer, but this is definitely Lewis' show.
The film is a sprawling epic, with beautiful imagery and scenes. The score is amazing, lending a strange tone and a sense of purpose as if it was a character all by itself. This is a very dark, evil film that really hits you in your gut when you realize it's a very real look at how we became the society we are today. The strangeness of this film needs to be talked about as it may turn some people off. The scenes are intricate, methodical and sometimes really far out there. However, the ending does help resolve some of the strange scenes that were not understood early on, but not all of them. This is really Paul T. Anderson's style and he should be commended for it. As of now, I believe he would be my pick for Best Director as he did an amazing job with a film that clearly he had a specific vision for and executed it flawlessly.
I truly hope this film gets nominated for Best Picture and I believe it will. As the rest of the precursors come out, hopefully we will see enough support for the film, and with two Best Picture wins in the last week it looks to be building momentum. If the film is nominated, I believe it has as good a chance as any to win, but we will just have to see. Until then, know that this is this one of the top 3 films all year (right there with No Country for Old Men and Zodiac) and should be viewed by all. Just try to open your mind while you do. (SCORE: 9.9)