OMG I didn't know what that movie was about and I got caught up in it.....and waited, and waited, and waited......

This was a dumb ass waste of my time.....

Or did I miss something?

My take on the film is that it was a somewhat masturbatory opportunity for Daniel Day Lewis to show off his acting chops and an allegorical statement by the writers about what a monstrous thing the elevation of the pursuit of money and power above all else is using the character of Daniel Plainview as an undiluted personification of that 'myth of the rugged American' inhumanity in all its glory.

That said, I both enjoyed the movie and went on to pick up a paperback version of Upton Sinclair's Oil! that the film was loosely based on, only to be sorely disappointed by *that* work as it not only spent much more time on the guilt-by-association-wracked son, but degenerated into a several hundred page treastise on the workers' movement and Bolshevism. Sadly, no brain-splattering or lurid ruination of preachers in the book, but reams of proto- white liberal guilt leaving one with the overwhelming feeling that the *son* is the one who should have been smacked over the head.

Regards,
Nydia

The movie plays wonderfully to two groups of people: Those that appreciate watching an excellent acting performance from Lewis, and those who would have appreciated being Daniel Plainview. A+, would recommend.

I guess we were watching that "film" from two different perspectives..... I thought it never developed .... it was more of the same after the first meeting with the town's members....

F- in my book...

Commando any day.....

Wow, your reactions surprised me. I thought it was one of the best movies I've seen in donkey's years. It was very, very powerful, very Kubrick-ish, the ending was particularly a nod and a wink 'And I'm done' - perfect.

As a vehicle representing the ambition, greed and emptiness of wealth, I found the storyline to be somewhat jerky, but the acting, the cinematography and the symbolism were all poignant enough to convey its points. Lewis was, as always, beyond an actor. I find his work mind-blowing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I guess I may be a bit shallow when I say I found it to be somewhat dull. It was an interesting idea showing how cutthroat people like Lewis' character were back in the day. But there just wasn't enough overt story to keep me interested. I'm sure if I watched it again I could find the symbolism, and I did see some of it poking through. but there just was no reason for me to do so because there wasn't enough to interest me.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would like to watch it again. My wife hated it, so there's no way I'm getting her to sit through it again for another 3 hours.