Saturday, June 21, 2008

MOVIE: There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day-Lewis is a devilish, explosion of an actor that I can not stop staring at. Intense. Enthralling. Unpredictable. Genuine. Touching. Enraging. And loathsome. I barely blinked for two and a half hours.

Otherwise, There Will Be Blood is writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Upton Sinclair's novel Oil. The directing was award-winning. The pacing was slow, but not ponderous. The writing was better than most. And the dialog was gritty and staccatic, just like I like it. While I was almost giddy with enjoyment of this movie, I have to point out that it rapidly dragged any time Daniel Day-Lewis was not the focus of attention. He was the lynch pin of the creation. Without him, It would have crumbled under its own dark weight.

Much like No Country For Old Men (I gotta write a review!) there is a strong chance that few women will enjoy this movie, rendering it useless as a date flick. And anyone bringing children to such a film should be reported to the Department of Child Services. Men, however, will completely dig it and find themselves itching to travel West after purchasing a pick ax and some suspenders. Well worth a rental, but mark off a large chunk of time to view it in one sitting.

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