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There Will Be Blood
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Genre: |
Drama |
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Reviewer’s grade: A
Paul Thomas Anderson is among the most idiosyncratic directors working today, and “There Will Be Blood ” is ample proof. Inspired by Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!,” the film charts the rise of an early 20th-century oilman, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis, “Gangs of New York”), an ex-prospector possessed by an almost demonic drive for success.
Plainview makes for a challenging anti-hero: misanthropic, but strangely charming; devoted to his young son (newcomer Dillon Freasier), but devoid of heart. Day-Lewis has already earned a Golden Globe for the portrayal; he’s the odds-on favorite to take home the Oscar, and rightly so. The actor is extraordinary, embodying the coiled rage of a caged beast. He is almost matched by Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”) as a baby-faced religious leader and Plainview’s longtime nemesis.
Buoyed by Robert Elswit’s striking cinematography and an avant-garde music score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, “Blood” is a brooding, volatile masterpiece that firmly establishes Anderson, whose other efforts include “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia,” as a singular visionary in American cinema. R
— Phil Bacharach
Trailer
Rating:
Not Yet Rated
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