TWBB is about Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, oil and money. He also wants family (represented by his his son H.W. but nothing gets in the way of what he wants, especially family. Enter Eli Sunday (Played by Paul Dano) a self absorbed preacher in the town of Little Boston who happens to know they are sitting on an ocean of oil. Now it comes down to a battle of the man of the cloth vs the man of the oil. I wont give too much else away but lets just say, things don't work out the way both want.
Daniel Day-Lewis should definitely get and Oscar for his roll as Daniel Plainview. The Oscar race is over for best male lead. This is his best performance from any movie I have seen and definitely the best of any actor I have seen this year. Paul Dano is good too as well as H.W. Plainview. The cinematography is awesome and Johnny Greenwood's (from Radiohead) soundtrack if very effective at setting the tone and mood of the scene. PTA's camera direction is also superb as usual and I would have to say the guy has some genius in him. He will definitely be the director to watch in the future and if he doesn't win for There Will Be Blood, he will win on something else in the future.
That being said, this isn't my Favorite PTA movie (Boogie Nights is probably on my top 10 list of all time), but it is still a damn good movie. There are parts that are boring and some which the general audience will not get. I am still trying to figure out some of it but the movie is chalk full of symbolism biblical and and otherwise. It will probably take a couple viewings to figure out what it all means. It is a movie though that I dreamed about last night, and I ams still thinking of it today. It will probably join my DVD collection as well. That being said, 3.7 stars out of four. Surely one of the better films of last year although I doubt few will get it. I also bet Oscar will favor No Country for Old Men for best picture but we will see. There Will Be PUD.
Plainview: "My name is Daniel and you will say I'm a family man. This is my son, H.W. You will also say I am a man of Beat. I will round up all Manthas and Bukies in your town, see, and I will beat. Oh yes, there will be beat."
Plainview: "Now H.W. If I had a milkshake and you had a milkshake and I was wearing a napkin over my head, you would get the effect of DRAINAGE and slober, see. Now see. "
