There Will Be Blood

[Third Coast]

Just watched this for the first time on DVD and I can certainly see why Daniel Day- Lewis took home the little statuette.

I started out liking the character, but halfway through I found myself commenting out loud to no one in particular, "what an *******".

I half-jokingly told my teenage son that Plainview reminds me of myself when I suspect that he (my son) wants something (usually money) from me - like the scene when Plainview meets his long lost "brother" and asks suspiciously, "What do you want?".

I can always tell when my son wants something before he gets the nerve to spit it out and I find that I ask that a lot - What do you want now?

***Mild Spoiler***
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The final scene when DD-L started throwing bowling balls and pins at the preacher was greatness.

 

[breakfast_taco]

Mrs. B-Taco and I watched it last night.
We found it pretty good until the last scene in the bowling alley. Although the scene was acted and directed well, we thought the story just petered out at that point. We didn't expect the plot to be "tied up with a bow", but it wasn't really clear what drove Plainview over-the-edge to kill Eli. Was it his self-proclaimed hatred of most people? Was it his competitiveness? Was it that Eli didn't heal his son? All of the above?

I'm finished.

 

[UTViking]

It was because Eli had a bad milkshake and when Daniel drank it up he got sick.

 

[hornian]

Is it not on Blu-Ray at all?

 

[RomaVicta]

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[WorsterMan]

Watched in my hotel room for the first time Tuesday night. DDL was allsome and I enjoyed the movie. It didn't end like I thought it would, but I think Planview's expressed hatred for everyone eventually did him in. "I am finished" - he became rich but his life as a free man was over.

 

[atxbomber]

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[jimmyjazz]

I just finished this a few minutes ago. I'm a bit torn -- DDL had his Oscar-worthy moments, but on first viewing, I have to say the film pales in comparison to "No Country For Old Men".

I'd say the scene in the bowling alley iced the Oscar, though. Nice shot on the vodka bottle.

The whole thing had odd pacing. It lingered in great detail on some scenes, and would then jump years. In the end, I liked the extent of the story, but I'm not sure it wouldn't have played out better as a more linear epic. Maybe not.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Addendum: who liked the soundtrack? It annoyed the hell out of me. I'm all for pushing the envelope, but I thought it called attention to itself, and in a bad way. Too percussive, too sloppy, too loud.

 

[Third Coast]

I am no psychiatrist, but from what I gathered Plainview while obviously a very driven man, was somewhat of a paranoid psychotic - maybe even bipolar - and it obviously got worse as the years went by.

 

[Third Coast]

I agree that the film's pace was odd, but it seemed to be done intentionally for effect.

I also agree that this is no NCFOM and In all honesty, I probably would have thought it rather ho hum without DDL. If an actor ever made a movie, this is it.

 

[jimmyjazz]

I don't know if he was any more mentally ill than just fiercely protective. To an extreme. (A mentally ill extreme? I'm no psychiatrist, either.)

 

[hornian]

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[Ranxerox]

Liked the soundtrack. Tension.

Didn't like the confusion or doppleganger aspect of the Sunday preacher.

Didn't like the leap in the plot to a Sunday preacher beat down.

Thought he killed in the end because, like the 'brother,' Sunday preacher was trying to muscle in on the money but couldn't play the hand out.

Have no reason to think that the 'I'm finished' means his life as a free man was over. No witnesses and gobs of money. He walks.

My only complaint is that, as much as I like a film where the bad guy gets away (NCfOM, fer instance), he gets what he wants, which is essentially self destruction in comfort, an unmoving story line about a character than simply does nothing other than strangle pathos. Even when the signature PTA moment arrives, and DDL is sobbing and thinking about his lost daddy and filial ties, etc., the character is already so hollowed out by hatred and avarice and cynicism it is hard to feel anything save appreciation for the acting.

Okay.

NCfOM was better (not as good as everyone says).

Humph.

 

[Not Shinola]

Somewhat Off topic...
I was talking to my Aunt at a family get together last weekend. Apparently DDL used her horse in the filming of the movie in Texas. Once they got back to California they couldn't find a horse that looked like it, so they rented her horse and moved to California.

 

[Horn89]

jimmyjazz-- Funny, I saw the movie for the first time last night and today I was telling my filmmaker buddy how much the soundtrack irritated me. It was awful. It felt like it was scored so that comatose viewers knew for certain when they were trying to build tension.

The dissonant string swells and the percussion loops . . . they had all the subtlety and nuance of Sammy Hagar acting out his songs line by line for an MTV video. Ugh.

The other thing about the film that bothered me was that they had the same actor play "brothers" Paul and Eli. So when Plainview visits the Sunday's ranch and makes an offer to buy it, Eli pushes his father to ask for more money. I was confused there. Was I just supposed to NOT notice that Eli and Paul were the same guy? I mean, they were the SAME GUY. I thought there was some plot element that I was missing (that Eli assumed the name "Paul" when he went to Plainview earlier in the film).

Geez, why not just hire another actor and spare me the uncertainty for why one guy is playing two brothers?

All that said, it was a great film.

 

[rhg84]

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[jimmyjazz]

I'm still not sure they WEREN'T the same guy; i.e., there was only one brother. "Paul" served no purpose. It was confusing and unneccesary.

 

[Third Coast]

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[Hayden_Horn]

the thing about the brothers was very confusing for me as well.

i'm wondering if eli wasn't the one who was mentally ill. the scene where he attacked his father and called paul "stupid" comes to mind. nobody else really mentions paul, except for eli and plainview, right?

 

[jimmyjazz]

I thought he called his father (Abel?) "stupid".

 

[Hayden_Horn]

he did, but i thought he mentioned paul in that rant as well.

i don't know, i watched it at the alamo drafthouse, and, if you can imagine it, people were eating and **** and i might not have heard it correcty

 

[jimmyjazz]

Heh.

 

[Hayden_Horn]

here's the quote:

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[iiiisofTX]

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[whickums]

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[RockyBalboa]

They were twins. DDL made reference to it by saying Eli was the part that ran down his mother's leg or something. They were played by the same actor because they were twins.

 

[jimmyjazz]

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[JohnnyBlaze]

Here's the deal with the twins, played by Paul Dano.

Originally, Dano had been cast as Paul,the brother who goes to tell Plainview about the oil underneath his land. There was another actor who was supposed to be playing Eli, the preacher brother. That actor ended up quitting before his scenes were shot. PTA liked Dano so much that he cast him in the role of the preacher also and made the brothers into twins. Dano had about 4 days to prepare for the role.

 

[capnamerca]

the actor playing the preacher brother was apparently terrified of DDL - so much so that he couldn't overcome it and play the required scenes. I think Paul Dano had worked with DDL in the past, and was comfortable doing so again.

Is DDL a dick? Or just terrifying because he's a badass actor?