This movie exactly lives up to its hype, but I expected more. The best part was watching Daniel Day-Lewis pretend to be Klaus Kinski, but we only really needed one Klaus Kinski. It’s a pity he’s gone, but one was enough. The conflict with the preacher boy really didn’t convince me, and the ambiguity created by using the same actor for both Paul and Eli annoyed me, settled as it was by one throwaway line about how Paul was successful in another part of California. Production values, set design, etc. were good, performances were fine, but I didn’t feel any Upton Sinclair in this, and that, more than anything else, was what I was hoping for.

Definitely one of the most authentic-feeling historical dramas I have ever seen. Due largely to Daniel Day-Lewis’s triumph of a performance, but also the cinematography, the direction, and the purposefully slow storytelling – the screen felt inhabited by the characters in a way that is hard to find in a lot of self-conscious period pieces (take for example Atonement). Beautifully done.

So I like to understand the history of our oil addiction. I also like a good drama. And a good independent western showing the American spirit. In There Will Be Blood, I got them all. A slow brooding movie that just grinds along at it’s own slow pace, it is unusual for a Hollywood movie. No big car chases, not many guns, LOTS of character development. Worth watching. It is a dark portrait of the American west and the beginnings of oil wealth, but I think probably quite accurate. A must see. I rate 5 of 5 stars.

There was blood, and plenty of gooey oil, in “There Will Be Blood.” Run, don’t walk, to see this movie! It is astonishing overall, weird and funny in places. Skillfully acted, beautifully shot, with a memorable score by Johnny Greenwood. The child actor Dillon Freasier, debuting here, is sure to have a bright career. He was perfectly cast. I didn’t want this film to end, despite its often grim subject matter, because it was gripping too. I’m now going to read the source material, Upton Sinclair’s “Oil.”