This is a strange film. In all honesty, it's difficult to know how to judge it but I'll give it my best shot.I must confess that I've been looking forward to this as much as any other film this entire calendar year. It did leave me feeling disappointed, as I was expecting pure excellence, but I'll try to be as impartial as possible.
The story centres (and I do mean centres) on oil baron Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) who will seemingly stop at nothing to see his empire grow and grow. But when Plainview's lust for fortune takes him to the town of Little Boston, California, in the second decade of the 20th century, he comes into conflict with the town's church and preacher (played by a very off kilter Paul Dano), his own family, and, ultimately, with himself.
To say this is Daniel Day Lewis' film is something of an understatement. He is in every scene, certainly every scene of note, bar one. His performance is so outstanding that the character eats up every moment with sublime force and power. A truly tour-de-force performance if ever there was one, Day Lewis brilliantly depicts a highly complex and dynamic character, who has so much going on inwardly and psychologically, it is difficult to depict, even in a (near) three hour film. Despite my snooty denunciation of the Oscars the other day, it is hard not to call Day Lewis a worthy winner. He is. But will he win the Matt nomination for male performance of the year 2007? You'll just have to wait until Friday, until I've seen the final film still on at the cinema on my 2007 radar, to find out.
The main problem with all this is the complete lack of support for Day Lewis. Yes, there's Paul Dano, who is good at times and I really must emphasise at times because at other moments it feels like he's some terrible child actor auditioning for the college play and failing to be cast. His line delivery is, at times, that bad. This is ultimately a great shame, as an otherwise interesting character is lost somewhere in Dano's unconvincing delivery. The ending particularly suffers in relation to this. Dano aside, the only other performance worthy of note is Dillon Freasier, who is good as Day Lewis' son, H.W. Plainview. For a film with designs on 'epic', this is ultimately unsatisfactory and it is an aspect of the film that falls a little flat, detracting from the overall feel.
Yet, and despite the near 3 hour running time, this is, at no point, a difficult watch. The character is interesting enough, and Day Lewis' performance captivating enough, to maintain a firm hold on the viewer's attention. It is also a further testament to Day Lewis. The film would have hugely suffered in lesser hands. The cinematography, by Robert Elswit, is also excellent and a shot of an oil rig burning against the deep California night sky lingers long in the memory.
I think that final judgement will have to be reserved for a second watch and it says enough that I am looking forward to watching it again, at some point. Though it in no way leaves you hankering for more in the manner of The Assassination of Jesse James or (the very different) Cloverfield, to name two recent examples which have succeeded in drawing me in deeper.
Flawed but well worth a watch. Day Lewis' performance just demands to be up in lights and is truly worthy of the entry fee alone.
B+
