Every so often there is a performance in a film that is so breathtaking, so superb, so amazing that you are left speechless when the credits begin to roll. This is the feeling one gets after watching Daniel Day-Lewis’ (Gangs of New York) turn in the Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) epic, There Will Be Blood (Paramount, Jan. 11).
Day-Lewis’ role as the greedy, cutthroat oilman Daniel Plainview is not simply the best performance of the year, but the best of the new millennium. Plainview is the type of multi-layered character audiences gravitate toward. He is a despicable human being, exemplified by the way he treats those close to him. Yet, there is something about Plainview that draws people towards him, almost making him likeable at times. This complexity is something that most actors and actresses strive to achieve, and Day-Lewis pulls off rather easily.
There Will Be Blood is an epic that stretches over the course of two decades, with a majority of the action taking place in the early 1910s. Plainview is self-employed and doesn’t involve himself with major oil companies like Standard Oil, but instead does all of his land buying and drilling personally with the help of a few loyal men.
Eventually, Plainview’s son H.W. Plainview (newcomer Dillon Freasier), starts to travel with him, quickly becoming the only person Daniel seems to care about. Bringing a young son around with him also benefits Plainview and shows people that he is a family man, drawing people toward the idea of a father-son run enterprise.
The movie focuses on Plainview’s ventures in a town called Little Boston. An earthquake in the region brings Plainview to the town to drill oil that the residents were unaware of prior to the quake. A mysterious young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine) tips off Plainview to the area, and he quickly sets off to begin his work.
Little Boston is a desolate and sad town, held together solely by the Church of the Third Revelation and led by Paul’s twin brother Eli Sunday (also played by Dano). People, including Sunday’s family, believe that Eli is a prophet and a vessel for the Holy Spirit. He claims to heal people and talk to God and is generally at ends with Plainview over his oil venture.
Though Eli comes across as a good person, one gets the feeling that he is just as greedy and power-hungry as Plainview. Eli seems to only care about the well being of his church, with little or no regard for the town and its people.
Dano gives a truly breakout performance in There Will Be Blood and should not be overlooked. He has the misfortune of being well overshadowed by Day-Lewis, but is impressive all the same.
As the movie goes on, Plainview gets around the many problems plaguing his venture. He continues to become more ruthless and cold as the months pass, and there is little doubt that he is well on his way to becoming the oil tycoon he is striving to become.
As the film winds down, viewers are given a terrible image of an older Plainview, and the end will leave audiences both horrified and fascinated.
There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece, the sort of movie that needs to be seen and can be compared to a modern day Citizen Kane.
