WHO MADE IT? | Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciaran Hinds, Russell Harvard, Mary Elizabeth Barret, Kevin Breznahan, Brad Carr. | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | Towards the end of the nineteenth century, miner Daniel Plainview (Day Lewis) was hoping to strike silver but he ended up striking gold - black gold. He quickly developed a method for extracting and collecting the oil that spouted out from the ground and within a few years, be became an oil prospector as successful as he was ruthless. When one of his staff was killed in a mining accident, he took on the man's son as his own, to give him the family-man image that helped him get land-owners on his side. When a local man tips him off to a potentially huge underground reservoir of oil, Plainview sets out to buy a farm from the father of a young priest, who immediately takes against the oil-man. Over the years, a battle of wits between the two men leads to the inevitable conclusion, suggested by the title. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | This is not a film. This is a performance. The story, such that it is, is linear and simplistic, with few surprises. For only one or two brief moments does Daniel Day Lewis's relentless pounding, shouting and show-casing give way to any sense of humility, as he gives other actors a rare opportunity to share the limelight. The director effectively conjures up the period and manages to say a thing or two about organised religion in his tale of this ruthless, power-hungry and oil-thirsty businessman. The cinematography and music are certainly grand and impressive enough to give the key performance a stage, but this is far more an experience of watching Daniel Day Lewis in an acting master-class than watching any kind of an emotional journey. Long before the two and a half hours are up, you may well feel that you've seen quite enough grand-standing for one evening. | Opens nationwide 8 Feb 2008
