2007 drama, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano;
IMDb /
allmovie.
Horrible oilman is horrible.
I did, in the end, enjoy Anderson's Magnolia; I wasn't able to
enjoy this. There we had little plot but lots of people, all
interestingly acted; here we have the focus on one person, who
undergoes no real change from start to finish. He's a horrible
insincere salesman who wants only money and power and will tread on
anyone who gets in his way. Day-Lewis gives a very intense
performance, but it's not a fun performance like Milla Jovovich's in
Future World, where she knows she's in a piece of crap but is
determined to overact and have fun. This isn't a piece of crap, and
Day-Lewis doesn't ever seem to be having fun, with what at times is a
very hammy performance.
David Thomson in Have You Seen…? describes Day-Lewis's performance
as "haunting", but, well, it didn't haunt me.
Cinematography is lovely, particularly in the early sequences of
minimalist prospecting and oil drilling (and this is why industrial
safety is important). The music mostly works, though it occasionally
obtrudes (a particular urgent dramatic piece is used for a casual
scene of driving to the station). But from the start we get just a
series of vignettes, perhaps of the important moments, but in a way
that feels like a filming of the notes for a book rather than a film
with an actual story.
I suppose some people in 2007 still needed to be told that the gilded
age of capitalism wasn't perfect. But that's all this ends up doing,
for me.
As usual if you want more of my witterings you should listen to
Ribbon of Memes.
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