There Will Be Blood is a story about Daniel Plainview, an entrepreneur in the early 20th century who attains great wealth drilling for oil. There is much more to this story but it's better viewed than summarized.
My initial reaction after watching TWBB was that I didn't quite get all the hype, as I've mentioned, it bored me at times and that's a sign that I'm not fully engaged with a movie. This was due to some slow pacing and some wildly out of place music in the soundtrack. In reflection I acknowledge this movie was very good, I'm not sure if it was great though.
The visuals in TWBB are breathtaking. I loved the subtle and minimalist settings which were frequently shown in long, pulled back shots. This only added to the ability of the movie to showcase it's great performances. In a recent online discussion I was involved in this person summed up the setting well, "Plainview is such an enormous character that I think he needed an equally large canvas to play on, or else he would have burst the seams of the film."
Daniel Day Lewis was brilliant in this movie as Daniel Plainview. He made me love and hate his character at different times in the story, sometimes even at the same time. Paul Dano is also incredible as the local church leader, who Plainview seems to loathe from the beginning.
This is a good movie, there are those who feel it is great and maybe I will want to increase this rating some day. I still can't get past the fact that I wasn't drawn in for the entire 3 hours. Maybe that's my weakness.
I put There Will Be Blood on my 'Watch It' list and give it a value of $7
14 comments:
I was somewhat disappointed by the $7, but you gave the movie an entirely fair shake and I can't fault you for that. It certainly isn't for everyone, but a second viewing sounds good to me, too.
I can not wait to watch this one again. I thought everything about it was excellent and the pacing was just right, but I like slow movies if they are good. This one was great so it really didn't even seem slow to me. Anderson definitely makes films that divide the crowd of movie watchers, but that is what I really love about his work. And of course you mentioned the brilliant Daniel Day Lewis.
enoyed it immensely. the power games and manipulation between the oil man and the preacher were brilliantly written and performed.
I so wanted plainview to do well, but before i knew it it was his doing well that finished him. he had to have it his way, which in the end left him alone. he said that's what he wanted, but we knew better. i love that wes anderson made it so we knew better. we want him to let someone in his life. or maybe this is just me. i suppose there are several ways the story could hit someone. for what it portrayed for me i have to say: what a great film.
A great film with a simple yet effective story. I'm with you on this one Toni, I still don't know how this movie rates with me. And I saw it around the same time as No Country For Old Men, so I think my internal "Oscar" standards were unfairly high.
What did you guys think of the ending? Did it seem fitting to you or out of place?
I thought the ending was very fitting (even delivering on the titular promise).
I think I liked this one better than No Country... but i have seen No Country several times adn this one only once in a very good theater experience.
I thought the ending was very fitting. Plainview and Eli were cut from the same cloth so the final confrontation spoke volumes about their souls.
It's hard to say if I liked No Country or TWBB best. My gut says TWBB but I'd like to watch them both again to compare.
the ending was perfect. hard to believe i didn't see it coming, it is just so right.
no country was amazing. definitely got the nominations right. i think they did it right giving the nod to no country but giving daniel day lewis the best actor.
Yeah, I think the ending made perfect sense, it just felt out of place to me initially because of the drastic change in pace and then sudden drop off. But I can appreciate the direction they went with the story.
I'm just a sucker for movies that keep a consistent tempo which is probably why I'm such a big M.Night fan.
I'm definitely glad I caught this movie in the theater; the big screen was very necessary in taking in the desolate landscapes
The ending could not have been better. I loved that this movie went completely against everything Hollywood. Of course that is normal for Anderson, but it is always refreshing.
The ending was sudden for certain but it was my favorite part of the movie.
What do you think he meant at the end when he told the bulter "I'm finished."
i think he meant exactly what he said. he was as done as the pastor, really. he'd taken it as far as it could go.
By the way, I couldn't help but notice you watched Teen Wolf recently. That is amazing.
I loved it and was surprised at your score (even though for me $7 [or 70 out of 100] is a pretty good mark). For me, this film is not far from perfect, and future viewings will be useful.
This can't work in reality, that's what I think.
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