It's been a long time since there has been a film as widely regarded as Paul Thomas Anderson's newest release, There Will Be Blood. Critics have gone apeshit over it, the masses seem to like it (for a winter-release art film, at any rate), and the Academy has besmirched the film with their smelly poo-stick of nominating goodness. Moreover, seemingly all of my friends, whose opinions I happen to regard rather more highly than the Academy's, seem to feel that this is a film Worth Seeing, a Tremendous film, perhaps even an Excellent one.
Before I start in on why I feel otherwise, I think it only fair that I make two points. The first is that I am not a fan of P.T. Anderson. I liked Boogie Nights - I mean, how could you not? It's a kickass movie about the porn industry in the 1970s (Though it's still too long and gets preachy at the end). But as for Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love, my one-word assessment is the same that I have for this new one: overrated.
The second point follows quite naturally - I readily concede that P.T. is a helluva skilled technical filmmaker. His composition, use of space, lighting - all superb. And he clearly knows how to get a good performance, though it doesn't hurt to start out with the kind of talent he usually gets. How hard was it to get Daniel Day-Lewis to act well? (Try getting what Steven Soderbergh got out of J-Lo in Out Of Sight.)
As an aside, I feel compelled to mention an exception to the P.T. Anderson-gets-good-actors rule: Adam Sandler's performance in Punch Drunk Love. People were going on and on about his fine performance, "Oh, wow, he can really act!" No. Adam Sandler does three things well on screen (I have no idea of and no interest in learning what he does well off screen): being childishly obnoxious and self-centered, throwing temper tantrums, and being endearing when his one-dimensional value system ends up somehow saving the day (possibly involving him learning some sort of lesson). This has led to a number of comedies that successfully (to varying degrees) exploit those traits. Those movies are comedies because, in a drama, it would be nigh impossible to make those the traits of a sympathetic character. Which is what happens in Punch Drunk Love, which is essentially the story of a person who is just like Adam Sandler's characters in all of his other movies, except that instead of being fabulously wealthy, or possessed of magical golfing abilities, or being the son of Satan, he's just a broke loser with no friends and terrible social skills. Notice how Adam Sandler hasn't made a drama (or a good comedy, for that matter) since. I think the only hope for his career is for someone to realize that he is essentially not a likeable character, and to cast him in small roles that warrant someone the audience should have an easy time disliking. Like Kevin Costner in 3000 Miles to Graceland, or Elijah Wood in Sin City. Aside end.
A man and his son go off in search of a film with better-developed characters and more interesting subtext. Back to the Blood movie. I've acknowledged that it's a well-shot, well-acted movie. And for the first 45 minutes or so (total running time: 158 minutes), I was pretty into it. It seemed to be about a man doing his thing in the early, Manifest Destiny days of the American Industrial Revolution. Perhaps something tricky was going on - good. What truths about our culture and human nature will be revealed? And then, some kid shows up to betray his family's trust and get rich quick. Our hero goes and buys the land, give the town the old Lyle Lanley routine, and then the movie takes a nosedive from which it never recovers. In fact, after this point, every single thing in the movie is exactly the same as P.T. Anderson's other movies. We have mean, uncaring fathers, overblown tragedies, melodramatic religious demagogues, awkward non-reconciliation reconciliations, and, of course, spiraling descents into madness.
Incidentally, lots of interesting things about fathers and sons - a topic that male artists will never grow tired of - could have been said, following the admittedly pretty cool but way too long scene where the son loses his hearing. But then the dad simply goes crazy and ceases to be an interesting character.
If all that wasn't enough, we're treated with a final act that felt like the mid-90s Cinemax remake of Citizen Kane. It's years later, and we find our Old Oil Tycoon alone in his big mansion, faced only with the miserable wreckage of his wasted life. First, he disowns his son in the most awkward and nonsensical scene ever. Then he gets a visit from his old friend/nemesis the Emo Preacher, who is magically still 25 years old, and the audience gets bludgeoned with some overacted and underwritten turnabout, followed by the preacher getting bludgeoned with the Bowling Pin of Ironic Justice.
In the end, this movie has the same problem as Magnolia - it never feels like it comes together. Also like Magnolia, it has a number of scenes that are individually interesting, but don't effectively serve the film as a larger unit. If there is anything profound to take away from There Will Be Blood, maybe it's this: The world is full of all sorts of people, so if you're one of the nice ones, watch out for mean people, stupid people, and crazy people. And also, fathers can be a bitch, so, you know, keep that in mind too.
