Writers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Upton Sinclair
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Kevin J. O’Connor, Dillon Freasier, Ciarán Hinds, Barry Del Sherman, Paul F. Tompkins, Paul Dano, Sydney McCallister
Rating: R
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: April 8, 2008

This year was the year for amazing movies when it came to the Oscars. Normally, there will be one or two movies that end up being nominated that are unworthy. That was not the case in 2007. There Will Be Blood may not be the most popular in terms of storyline, but the acting was definitely superior to any of the other nominated films and most of those other films were incredibly deserving of the Oscar nod that they received, as well.

I had heard about this film for months, but I had absolutely no clue what it was about. Even when the Oscars rolled around, I had no clue about this film other than the title and the fact that the lead character was played by Daniel Day Lewis. Knowing about Lewis’ intricate style of method acting, I knew the performance was going to be exceptional. I also know that Day Lewis doesn’t usually pick drab, dreary, or mindless films to star in, so I knew there had to be some kind of story to make this film worthwhile.

Having seen many of his films, I was well aware that he doesn’t play in anything bad, but that didn’t help me learn anything tangible about this film. It would be the book by Upton Sinclair that arrived with the movie that gave me an idea of what to expect. Normally, I probably wouldn’t find any interest in watching a film about oil drilling. Daniel Day Lewis seems to make things much more interesting, though I have to admit, I didn’t spend one minute of the movie watching him and seeing the person that I know he is. Instead, with the sign of any good actor, I was only able to see his character.

There Will Be Blood is one of those movies that people will not understand completely. It’s probably the least liked of the Oscar Pictures of 2007 (though No Country for Old Men seems to be hated for its end by those who ‘just don’t get it’). I have to say that it was one of my favorites because I understood the point of the film and the acting was far superior to others I’d seen in 2007. I felt that the storyline and the motives that moved the picture along were incredibly clever, but then again, what do I know? I’m just a critic.

Release Information:
There Will Be Blood premiered at the Fantastic Fest on September 27, 2007. Its US premiere was on December 10, 2007 in New York and the film experienced a limited theater run as well as several film festival appearances along the way. It received critical reception at the film festivals that it appeared in and by critics both online and off. As of April 2008, domestic totals at the box office, despite a limited run in the theaters, came to over $43 million. Worldwide totals for the film have increased the value to close to $73 million.

On April 8, 2008, Paramount is set to release There Will Be Blood in a Two Disc Special Edition as well as a standard edition, which is much cheaper. This review will cover the Two Disc Special Edition. You’ll want to pick up the standard edition only if you are not concerned with the extra bonuses in the special set. You can pre-order a copy of the single DVD for around $16 or the Special Edition for $23.

The There Will Be Blood Plot
The interesting part of There Will Be Blood is how easily you get sucked in into the story. This film is an all American look at the oil industry around the turn of the 20th century. Portrayed with accuracy thanks to the direction of Paul Thomas Anderson and the amazing cast led by Daniel Day Lewis, the ups and downs of the film keep what could have been an incredibly dull and drab topic piece interesting and entertaining. With such engaging acting and a well written screenplay by Anderson, based on the novel by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood was highly deserving of the Oscar nods that it received.

There Will Be Blood had my interest immediately and it achieved this by having 14 minutes of silence before the first word of the film was spoken. The tension, from the silence was incredibly stifling and as someone watching the film, I immediately wanted to know where this film was going. Anderson achieved interest through this method, as the unusual nature of the opening of the film, relying on the action on screen to dictate what was happening, just isn’t a common way for a film to start. From there, things take off, slowly though they quickly pick up speed once we are formally introduced to Mr. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis).

Plainview is in the oil business. He’s a shrewd oil man who seems to know what he’s doing and how to get people to trust him so he can make more money drilling oil on their property. Daniel has the ability to be charismatic and charming. In fact, this is how he is able to be so successful in the oil industry. He wants more, though, and he’s willing to charm the pants off every townsperson in every area he drills in order to see that he succeeds at what he does. He does this by stressing the importance of family values. He lets his crew bring along their families, on the job and even uses his own son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier), as his sidekick companion and a cute face to woo townsfolk.

The internal struggle of Plainview is a central theme of the movie. He attempts to battle what he sees as right and what really is right, until eventually, he goes crazy. This also makes Daniel an incredibly hard protagonist to sympathize with. At times, you like him and want him to succeed. At other moments, you see him as a greedy, slimy oil man who wants what he wants, no matter the cost.

Daniel is approached one night by a young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano). The young man, at first, will not reveal his name. He knows of a place where oil bubbles to the surface. He’s sure the land is rich in oil. He tells Daniel his family owns the land and demands that Daniel pay him for the information he knows. Daniel agrees to pay him to be told where the land is, and if he is right, Paul will make a profit off the oil that is found. After that, Paul disappears. With his crazy family, it’s easy to see why. The Sunday family is made up of a bunch of religious kooks and though Daniel tells them everything they want to hear, he thinks they’re full of hogwash.

Paul has more than one sister including the youngest, Mary (Sydney McCallister), who befriends H.W. and tells him her Daddy beats her if she doesn’t pray. He also has a twin brother, Eli (Paul Dano), who believes he is a prophet and wants Daniel to agree to pay him enough money (for the land) so he can build his church. Once he has the Church of the Third Revelation, he can become a Faith Healer. Eli is a psycho, fundamentalist holy-roller. He certainly makes the movie interesting, if not somewhat scary.

Eli wishes to bless the well before they drill. After Daniel makes a mockery out of this, Eli informs him that anything bad that happens is on him. When a terrible accident occurs that injures H.W., Daniel falls apart. Some of the land owners demand that Daniel attend church and be baptized by Eli if he wants their land and the entire story explores the relationship Daniel shares with his newly discovered, younger brother, Henry (Kevin J. O’Connor). There is also a major emphasis on how oil companies work. Daniel must decide between taking the risk and drilling through pipelines to the ocean or selling out his land to a company and becoming instantaneously rich. While Daniel is good at what he does, a one man team who leads rogue workers isn’t making nearly enough as the corporate companies, so the offer of millions is tempting.

I’ve heard it said that There Will Be Blood is boring. It’s unconventional, perhaps even somewhat historical. However, the plot isn’t exactly linear because this isn’t a linear story. It is a character study of the protagonist, Daniel Plainview. This is a look at his descent from beginning to end, both mentally and physically. There really isn’t a purpose to the story if Plainview isn’t a part of it. Essentially, this story is Plainview’s and no one elses.

While the supporting actors do an excellent job in their roles, Anderson knew that whoever he chose to play Daniel Plainview would have to carry the entire movie on their shoulders. He couldn’t have picked a better choice in Daniel Day Lewis, if he tried. Lewis personified Plainview from the unwavering accent to the eccentric mannerisms. I believed he was from the turn of the century, not the guy I remember from my favorite Day Lewis film, My Left Foot. You have to be a certain kind of person to enjoy such a film, and sadly, many are so used to the Cameron Diaz, I can’t act mentality of Hollywood that most don’t know a good movie when they see one. As a critic, let me tell you, THIS is a masterpiece.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
There Will Be Blood is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with widescreen enhancements. There were no visual problems to be found in this film. It’s one of the few DVDs that I have seen recently that are virtually flawless. A Blu-Ray version should be coming soon, so you can expect an amazing display on that. The black levels came through beautifully on this and the colors were bright without being overpowering. It is absolutely stunning and I have no complaints.

The sound quality for There Will Be Blood was handled with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. In addition to the English track there are also Spanish and French tracks available. The film is unique because it has plenty of quiet moments that offer tension where needed. These moments become more dramatic when broken up with bursts of sound effects, musical breaks, or screaming dialogue. Whatever the case, the audio was handled as well as the video was on this disc. The film also offers subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
The majority of the special features are included in the 2-Disc Special Edition. As this is the version I received for review, I cannot comment on what will be available on the other versions of the film. In this set you will receive everything from vintage photos and deleted scenes to featurettes that offer more insight about the film. Surprisingly enough, there is no commentary on the film anywhere. The director has stated that he no longer does commentaries, but it would have been nice to see one with the producers, writers, or even cast members participating where the director chose not to.

Things in the special features department begin with a mix of vintage photos, footage from behind the scenes, and video clips. All of these were used in the research that was done when making There Will Be Blood. It was really important to the director and other creative forces behind the movie to make this as realistic as possible. There are also two deleted scenes that total close to ten minutes worth of additional storyline. The first one is “Fishing” and the second is “Haircut/Interrupted Hymn”. While it is easy to see why they did not make the final cut they are still interesting to watch.

There is an alternate scene entitled “Dailies Gone Wild”. Coming in at close to three minutes, this alternative scene takes place where Daniel Plainview is eating after his son has returned home from being away from him. There is a one and a half minute film teaser and the original theatrical trailer which runs for over two minutes. Up until this point, the supplements are in anamorphic widescreen and some of them offer subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

A very interesting extra included on the second disc is entitled, “The Story of Petroleum”. This was a silent film that was developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Sinclair Oil Company in the 1920s. The film is a few minutes shy of being a half hour in length. This was an awesome edition and was fun to watch, especially in light our own oil crisis. It really sheds some light on what oil companies have truly become. Of course, there is still the greed that is ever-present in an industry such as this, but things definitely have changed from the early days of the oil industry until now.

While all of these extras were very interesting, I would have liked to see more behind the scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew, and things that made the film process more relatable, especially for those that did not understand the true meaning of the film. Unfortunately, there were many people that did not get this film. They could have used a road map and the ideal place for that map would have been in the bonus features. Still, what bonuses are here are excellent and the main feature is well worth the purchase, whether you buy the DVD for the bonuses or not.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
There Will Be Blood was one of the most amazing films of 2007. Of all of the Oscar contenders, it had the best acting. It’s no surprise why Daniel Day Lewis won the Oscar. He certainly deserved the win. However, the supporting characters, such as Paul Dano, really put in an amazing performance, as well. While this film may not be for everyone and not everyone is going to get it, those who do are going to appreciate it all the more. This film comes very highly recommended.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: There Will Be Blood, Academy Award, Daniel Day Lewis, oil, Daniel Plainview, Film Review, DVD, Paramount

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