Plot:A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
We first meet Plainview in 1898 mining for silver in Arizona. After a nasty fall in which he breaks his ankle, he discovers oil in the shaft. After a few years, he has a crew and a few successful wells.One day, a fellow worker there with his infant son (for some reason) is killed and Plainview adopts the boy, H. W. (Dillion Freasier) for no other reason than to have a cute face to show while he cons the public.These are some of the movie's best scenes, with Plainview - and H.W. in tow - visiting backwoods bergs and convincing a gullible populace into signing away land rights for a fraction of what they were worth.Several years later, a visitor tells Plainview about a ranch in California that is soaking in oil, so Pop and son head out there, under the pretense of hunting quail.There they meet the Sunday family, addled dad, Abel a few non-descript females and an Evangelist son, Eli.Plainview and Eli do not hit it off at all, and this is the conflict that sets up the second act. It doesn't take much to finagle Abel out of the Sunday Ranch, as well as the surrounding property, but several tragedies cause many in the town especially the young preacher to wonder if they made the right move in letting Plainview into their midst.When H.W. is rendered deaf in an explosion and disastrous fire, we wonder if the whole enterprise is worth it.
Daniel Day Lewis delivers a performance worthy of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and other movie titans. His depiction of Daniel Plainview is simply outstanding, a man moved by greed and hatred.Paul Dano also gives a surprisingly mature performance, showing that he has come a long way since he played the silent teenager in Little Miss Sunshine. Paul Thomas Anderson shows noticeable excellence behind the cameras, giving the world a lot of unforgettable scenes.my rating for the first 90 minutes is 8.5/10 and the next 60 is 7.5/10.
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