There Will Be Blood 2007
This was one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2007, but much of that had to do with the acting performance of Daniel Day Lewis, who I already feel is one of the biggest overactors of all time. Sometimes you need someone to play a big part and Lewis can deliver that, but sometimes you need a little less. In the end, I guess Lewis is the only person who could be the centerpiece of this movie, but that is because the movie itself screams to be about something and just isn’t. Even a huge performance by Lewis can’t change that. Instead you have achingly long periods of silence (15 minutes go by before the first word is spoken), no real plot and no real development. Lewis goes from being kind of normal for an hour or so and then turns psychotic for no real reason. Several scenes that have little to do with each other are tacked on. Then the movie ends in a fit of brutal violence.
The movie is very pretty to watch. The soundtrack is unusual and generally likable except for the big Lost-like trilling to accentuate certain moments. I was willing to like the movie if the very slow scenes actually resulted in something, but I was severely disappointed in that regard. As it stands, only major movie buffs should see this movie and I am sure they will rejoice in the big performance and rich cinematography. Everyone else probably needs to stay away from this big pretentious mess of a movie.
Written: 20 Apr 2008