A couple of friends of mine and I were recently trying to decide on a flick to partake in and narrowed it down to the following: Cloverfield, I Am Legend or There Will Be Blood. Since There Will Be Blood has been nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, (and won several Golden Globes, including Best Picture) we decided this would be our choice. We chose…poorly.
The story chronicles the life of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner, raising a son on his own, into a self-made oil tycoon. It shows how the ultimate drive for power can corrupt and destroy the soul. Daniel Plainview is unscrupulous, harsh and will stop at nothing to get his hands on as much oil as he can.
First, I will give the pros about There Will Be Blood. The acting was great. I like Daniel Day Lewis. I think he has done a great job in just about everything he’s been in. This film is no different. Daniel Day Lewis may overact at times but generally does a great job with the character. Paul Dano, from Little Miss Sunshine, does a solid job in his portrayal of an evangelical preacher that stands in opposition of Plainview's search for power. So, the acting was top notch but that was about the only thing.
This film should have been titled “There Will Be Boredom”. The movie runs 2 ½ hours and I looked at my watch about 3 times during that span, which is not a good sign. The film has no real story. I went expecting something incredible (worthy of the many Oscar/GG nominations) and got something slow and over-hyped in my opinion. There was an absence of character development and because of that you didn’t know why certain characters behaved the way they did, what their motivation was or where you thought the story was going.
Another aspect of the film which made no sense was the music. The soundtrack didn’t fit the movie and was quite annoying. If you weren’t watching the movie but just listening to the music, you would have thought you were watching a horror movie. It was creepy like music from The Shining. It was played very loudly at confusing and bizarre times too. It just kind of reminded me of nails on a chalk board.
I’m not fond of movies that just have an abrupt ending causing you to say “Is that it? Is that the ending?” This movie has an ending like that. Unsatisfying at best.
So, in the end, I felt like it was a waste of time...and $10.00. I just didn’t get it. Maybe if I see it again, or a few more times, then it might get better or I might understand what the critics see. But on first glance, I wasn’t too impressed. We would have done better with Cloverfield or I Am Legend, that’s for sure.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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2 comments:
It was dark and depressing - that is for sure. The acting was amazing as you said.
However - I liked how it kind of cronicled the rise of a man from nothing... but once he had everything he became corrupted (though he already was a little bit to begin with...) His fight with humanity and the soul and power and wealth. No to mention the evolution of the preacher.
You are correct, it is CRAZY long... but I liked it. No so much for the movie itself - but the warning of the dangers of the desires of our heart... what we think we sometimes want may not be the best thing for us - and once we actually do get it - will we be so in over our head we don't or can't even realize it's hurting us - since we have convinced ourselves for so long that whatever it is we were seeking is the only thing that can make us happy?
I thought it was a lot deeper than the surface, and for that reason I liked it. But it's definitely not a movie for everyone!
It's no Juno! =)
finally got to see the infamous There Will Be Blood... Daniel-Day Lewis' performance was top-notch. He takes well to the overbearing, violent father-figure role -- he also did this in Gangs of New York.
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