Monday, January 14, 2008

There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day Lewis gives the performance of a lifetime in what basically amounts to a one-man show -- he is in every scene and in every scene he recites what might as well be monologues. Really -- there are other characters, but they are there to support his lines, his character development and the story, which is him. But it's completely gripping. His character is so gritty and dark and single-minded that I was drawn into his drama as it unfolded. Shakespearian in its tension, bloodiness and morals -- think Hamlet or King Lear.

P.T. Anderson crafts the perfect environment for Lewis' character Plainview. The landscape is dusty and dry and the scene is desperate. Tensions between religion, family, community and money are clawed by dirty hands to the surface for us to pick through and find our fortune.

I'm finished!

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