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Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of oilman Daniel Plainview. Daniel’s main adversary is the young and prideful preacher Eli Sunday. The two men each have their portrayal of hyper-masculinity. The entire movie can be taken as a commentary on masculinity with many possible interpretations. There are no women in prominent roles throughout the entire movie.
The movie is 158 minutes long but is well-paced. I found a few slow spots of lingering shots that could be tightened up in the middle third. There were no scenes I would remove in their entirety, so any reduction in length would be minor. Fortunately, the action in the third act demands your attention and distracts you from the long run time.
There Will Be Blood has a fair amount of bloody violence and deadly accidents. It also portrays a fringe evangelical church preacher in an unflattering light. The greatest line in any movie about milkshakes helps close out the movie. While the movie is complex and can lead to lots of discussions, it is still approachable. Paul Thomas Anderson has made some quality films that never got the commercial success that they deserve. Help change that by watching There Will Be Blood.
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