There was indeed blood, but it was too little, too late.
I felt like seeing a movie this week and didn’t feel like I had many great ones to choose from. I don’t really enjoy seeing first-run movies in the theater, but something was pushing me to do it. Maybe the aspiration of finding camaraderie with my fellow man through a basic, passive activity?
I chose There Will Be Blood based on an 80 percent positive review from Rotten Tomatoes, which is now at 91 percent. I also made some assumptions (always a bad idea) based on a threat stated in this movie title’s likeness by the antagonist in the movie, SAW II. So I went in with the expectation that I was going to see a horror movie.
To say it was horrible would be a little rash. It had its moments, and the story was somewhat interesting. I understand why so many movie buffs gave it the thumbs-up: In my humble opinion, it’s Citizen Kane for the new millenium.
But I didn’t like Citizen Kane.
I know it broke a lot of ground in the history of filmmaking—exciting new camera angles, daring uses of shadow and light… all that good stuff. The acting, for its time I suppose, was fine. It was just boring. I had to watch it in several sessions.
I might have done the same with There Will Be Blood, had I not been trapped in a dark theater between an old guy who can’t keep his wrist still and a young guy who kept looking at his phone, having paid $9.25 for the “experience” (with student discount; yes, I still carry my college ID). It definitely wasn’t bad enough to walk out, so after awhile I focused on whether there would be actual blood, or if there had been “blood,” and the title was just a clever metaphor. There was indeed blood at the end, and the scene that incites it made the film almost worth the trip to the theater.
You can read the synopsis yourself; I’ll just share a couple of shining moments:
1. The main character, Daniel Plainview, is in a meeting with some wealthy buyers. He says that even though he could become a millionaire when he leaves their office, what was he going to do with all that money?
“Take care of your son,” offered one of the buyers.
Plainview flips out and yells at him, as one would expect of his character. But considering the scene takes place right after he abandoned his son on a train, it would have been even better if he’d replied in a low voice, “Oh, I took care of him.“
2. Plainview is looking at a map with some state or county official, going over all of his holdings. At one point he stops and says sharply, “What is that? Why don’t I own that?”
I hear ya on that one, buddy.