There Will Be Blood (2007)

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano

In the early twentieth century, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) finds oil and establishes a small drilling company.  One of the workers for his company dies.  Plainview adopts the worker’s son and makes him his business partner.  Years later, Plainview is working to become an oil tycoon.  He is approached by Paul Sunday (Paul Dano), who offers him oil under his family’s property in Little Boston, California.  When Plainview visits Sunday’s family and makes them an offer, no one refuses but Paul’s brother Eli (Dano), who wants a higher price.    Eli’s dad, however, agrees to Plainview’s deal.  Plainview buys up all the land in Little Boston and begins on a dark path to wealth, greed, and power.  These things cost Plainview more than a few dollars though; they cost him family and faith as well.  In There Will Be Blood, Daniel Day-Lewis electrifies the big screen with an unforgettable powerhouse performance.  His transformation into a greedy, faithless, loveless oil tycoon is mesmerizing.  If you want true insight into American capitalism, watch There Will Be Blood as soon as you can.