There Will Be Blood

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Year Released: 2007
Rating: 2.0

Godless Capitalist Daniel Day-Lewis buys up a giant plot of land in order to drill for the oil that will make him rich ... and you know what they say in the movies about Godless Capitalists: they're full of guilt and miserable (someone, quick, tell Bill Gates, et. al.). There isn't much to take from this aside from the basic tenets "Greed is bad" and "beware of false prophets" (Paul Dano plays a rather unconvincing preacher) - Day-Lewis, like Kane, builds his own San Simeon, but finds himself with his own Rosebud, his son's love. It looks great (thanks to Robert Elswit) and moves with confidence, but is relatively shallow - I'm sure many are buying into the 'allegory' of it (as a reflection of the George Bush Administration's Oil Hunger), but close introspection finds that link incredibly frail (it goes back to the story it's based on, and Upton Sinclair was rather cut-and-dry). Day-Lewis is remarkable as always, that is until the final confrontation between himself and Dano where he really chews up the place - it's as if he channeled Bill the Butcher once more....