review: The film opens very strong with the premise of the pioneering Americans settling the West the turn of the century. Their goal, oil. Desert land is being bought up and wells are being dug by hand. One of these pioneers is Daniel (Lewis). Having already made his fortune he travels with his adopted son to a small desert shack said to be containing oil.Overnight Daniel buys up thousands of acres and turns this one shack is turned into a full size town with a train station, roads, house for workers, and accompanying businesses. This first 1:10 is very exhilarating as we see a how a town is built from scratch and progress is made. The excellent photography and musically score also add to this.However the next 1:30 minutes are a downward spiral. Both Daniel and the plot seem to stagger forward without direction on substance. Daniel abandons his son whom goes deaf and mad after an accident and murders a con man pretenting to be his lost brother. Down right embarrassing are the scenes with a crazed preacher with a Christ complex who mocks Daniel. These scenes were not humorous even in a dark way. I felt sorry for the actors.`There Will Be Blood' starts out strong but dies a slow and painful for the audience death.
question: Why is a film so powerful?
The film opens very strong