There will be blood. There will also be lots of anger issues. The story revolves around Daniel Plainview, a highly-driven and incredibly ruthless oilman, in the late 19th century American west. When he hears of oil-rich land in California, he takes his son, H.W., and sets up operation there - telling the locals exactly what they want to hear while practically stealing their land out from under them. Daniel Day-Lewis is completely entrenched in the role of Plainview, living in a world of his own despite the community around him.
The only difficult human hurdle to his takeover is Eli Sunday, a local preacher. Played with gusto equal to Day-Lewis' by Paul Dano, Sunday is after the same thing Planview is—wealth. Both are clever and both have quite the capacity for cruelty.
Overall it's about materialism and how incredibly horrible people can be to each other. You'll either be completely captivated by it or find it incredibly drawn out. Besides the meanness of it all, what makes it so hard to digest is the length. It drags you through the oil and blood for two hours and thirty-eight minutes. Still, in between the intense acting, there's plenty at which to look. Director Paul Thomas Anderson admirably undertook this project of epic proportions; now if only someone had put a heavier hand in the editing department.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: People who want to see a gritty Oscar-winning performance
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