Starring Daniel Day Lewis in a brilliant performance, the film opens at the turn of the century where a Daniel Plainview finds oil and starts a small drilling company. After a worker dies, Plainview takes the abandoned baby as his son H.W. He uses the boy to endear himself to others and his successes grow. Time passes and Daniel is approached by a boy who knows the location of oil. Daniel goes there and buys up all the land he can, becoming a wealthy man in the process. However, not everything is wonderful. He begins a long conflict with a local preacher (Paul Dana) and his son becomes ill after an explosion. Later a man comes to Plainview claiming to be his brother and Daniel also abandons his son. The years pass and he is more greedy and tyrannical and on top of that he is also a drunkard. He cruelly mocks his son before cutting all ties with him. Finally, he commits one last violent act. What stands out is that Plainview has no redeeming qualities and this man proclaiming to be a minister is also an undesirable. This film had moments reminiscent of Giant, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and even Citizen Kane. However, despite the commanding performance of Lewis, it is not quite the same caliber in my mind.
4.5/5 Stars
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