I just got home from the late show of There Will Be Blood and I must say I don’t think I enjoyed the movie. In fact it’s the first movie I’ve seen since The Passion of The Christ that I didn’t really feel good about sitting through. Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as The Thirteenth Floor or anything, but it really didn’t make me feel good. Daniel Day-Lewis’ character Plainview is simply too dark for my tastes, he’s a genuine psychopath (probably in the clinical sense) and the acting is a bit too convincing for my taste.

That being said, the acting was excellent and the film, at least as a piece of art in the abstract sense, was quite impressive. I haven’t read Oil!, though from what I gather Paul Thomas Anderson only borrowed loosely from Upton Sinclair’s book so even if I had it might not have prepared me for the tone of the film. I’m a definite fan of Anderson and while I enjoyed his lighter fare (e.g.: Boogie Nights or Magnolia) much more than this film it has done nothing to lower my view of him as a screenwriter or director. I don’t think I’d give it a recommendation but I certainly wouldn’t discourage anybody from seeing it either. A+ in cinema, C for entertainment.