THERE WILL BE BLOOD — *** — Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier; rated R (violence, profanity, vulgarity, gore).
"There Will Be Blood" is an oddity for screenwriter/director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Anderson's previous films, such as "Boogie Nights" (1997), "Magnolia" (1999) and "Punch-Drunk Love" (2002), were filled with dialogue — so much of it that there was almost no free space in them whatsoever.
But this Anderson feature has practically no dialogue for the first 20 minutes, save for a couple of guttural grunts. So Anderson has to make his characters' words and actions count here.
And for a good two hours, the drama is pretty riveting stuff. A seemingly hasty, rushed and ridiculous finale does end things on a particularly unsatisfying note, though.
"There Will Be Blood" is loosely based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil!" Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Daniel Plainview, a silver miner who becomes a prosperous, turn-of-the-20th-century oil man.
Through hard work, he's found riches in unlikely locations such as Little Boston, a small religious community with previously untapped oil reserves. A resulting deal with community leaders allows Daniel to drill there. And suddenly his modest operations begin to rival those of larger oil corporations.
Still, his lack of scruples and clear contempt for others has made Daniel a lot of enemies. He's continually butting heads with Little Boston's religious leader, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and has neglected his young son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier), who suffered some hearing loss as a result of an oil-derrick accident.
As the film's central character, Day-Lewis is clearly channeling John and Walter Huston. His voice and speech patterns are eerily similar, though his performance is no mere mimicry. His is a strong, dominating presence, and he will certainly be an Academy Award favorite.
Also, it's to the credit of Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine") and talented newcomer Freasier that his performance doesn't completely blow them off the screen.
Another oddity is Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood's score, which may sound like horror movie music and does get louder as the film progresses but is surprisingly effective.
"There Will Be Blood" is rated R for strong scenes of violence (including explosive, fiery mayhem and a bloody beating), scattered strong profanity and other crude language (slang and references), and brief blood and gore. Running time: 158 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com