There Will Be Blood

          Overall, I was displeased with There Will Be Blood. However, I loved how there was little to no dialogue for the first 15 minutes. This shows  that the makers of this film are skilled enough to keep our attention without dialogue. 

          One thing that I have realized after watching many movies and television shows is that when I hate a character, it is usually because of incredible acting and writing.  In There Will Be Blood, Eli is a character I cannot stand for several reasons.  First, I find him extremely annoying. He is the pastor of a church in a small town at a young age, so he thinks he has great power. At one point, Eli calls his father Able stupid and lazy, which at the time would have earned him a harsh beating.  The worst part is that he gets away with it. In that scene, Eli holds his head very high so that he is physically and metaphorically looking down his nose at his father.  He even shows his dominance by tackling Able and scolding him for being stupid and lazy.

          Also, there are subtile things that disgust me about him.  While getting beaten by Daniel Plainview, Eli screams like a little girl, and fails to fight back. 

          I wasn’t a fan of the cinematography in this movie. I found there to be many long shots that carried on for no particular reason. Also, the framing of some shots made me feel uncomfortable.

          Probably the reason why I did not enjoy this movie is because I was confused about the storyline. 

          One of my biggest problems with some movies is not being able to distinguish a basic storyline. Someone once told me, if you can’t explain your idea in one sentence, the idea isn’t simple enough.  This is exactly how I feel about There Will Be Blood. Throughout the movie I have been trying to figure out what the premise of the movie is. All I have been able to distinguish is that it is about a man’s life who is in charge of an oil company. His business and family begin to fall apart and he loses control.   

          Later, the movie skips ahead 16 years and avoids all of the problems that were created in the first section of the movie. Daniel Plainview tells his son that he’s adopted, which doesn’t make sense because he abandoned him than took him back out of love and regret. Than Eli comes back and is randomly murdered by Plainview. 

          There Will Be Blood definitely is on my “never to watch again” list. Two and a half hours of my life were wasted and I will not be getting them back. Two thumbs way down.