Ambitious but irreparably flawed, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood enthrals for half its run but balances precariously atop an epilogue that can’t sustain the picture’s dramatic weight.

Opening with its protagonist buried deep in a hole from which he never really emerges, the film tracks turn-of-the-century miner Daniel Plainview (a magnetic Daniel Day-Lewis) who converts from silver when he taps vast oil resources beneath California’s undeveloped frontier. A decade later, Daniel and adoptive son HW (saucer-eyed Dillon Freasier) are snapping up as much land as possible to increase the family’s corporate empire.

And then we reach a turning point. They are tipped off by one Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) to oil resting just below the surface of Little Boston. The tycoon ventures to the town, drives the stakes of his pseudo-revival tent into the fertile ground, and begins to bleed the community dry, literally and figuratively.

One obstacle in Little Boston is Eli Sunday (Dano again), perhaps Paul feigning ignorance of Daniel’s ultimate goal or a different brother altogether. Eli is the town’s holy man who hawks religion with the same zeal Daniel peddles oil. He lays healing hands on gullible parishioners, distrusts the Plainviews, and bullies his weak-willed father, Abel.

Had Anderson limited his tale to the strong-willed tug-of-war between Daniel and Eli, the material could have thrived, expanding to fill the vast frontier that backdrops the story. Both ‘salesmen’ need the support of the susceptible majority, and Day-Lewis is at his best tormenting an inferior opponent. But the filmmaker does his best to divert our attention, laying plot pieces like rails of a train track, promising a destination that never materializes. HW, injured in a blast, is temporarily exiled but returns with few repercussions. Henry (Kevin O’Connor), Daniel’s stepbrother, shows up right when the business suggests profits. (That hardened Daniel trusts this stranger is laughable.) Meanwhile, one stubborn resident (Hans Howes) refuses to sell his land, preventing the completion of Daniel’s pipeline to the coast. And representatives of Union Oil sniff around, offering massive sums of money for the fruit of Daniel’s labour. Anderson throws conflict after conflict against the wall, begging for something to stick.

While the director lets the focus slip, the film – which has been nominated for 8 Oscars (including Best Picture) – remains wholly watchable as Day-Lewis transforms Daniel into a forceful, cautious, and commanding frontier CEO. Robert Elswit (Michael Clayton) shoots his second gorgeous picture this year but Dylan Tichenor after The Assassination of Jesse James again needed a short leash in the editing bay and Jonny Greenwood’s harsh score doesn’t always gel with the action.

And then the coda, which will be the focal point of There Will Be Blood discussions for years to come. Those that buy into Anderson’s vision may embrace the unabashed theatricality of the maniacal Daniel facing off against Paul/Eli one last time. It doesn’t work. For me, the final act will be revered for its surplus of embarrassingly cheesy lines from Day-Lewis, his teeth sunk deep into the scenery. “Drrrraiiiinagggge,” he bellows at his nemesis, stomping around like Kong unleashed. Perhaps realizing the futility of the scene, Day-Lewis demolishes Anderson’s construction with an admirably hammy delivery: “I told you I would eat you!” he growls to both Paul/Eli and the scenery. And then the tornado-de-force gives way to Daniel’s final telling line: “I am finished.” No truer words were ever spoken.

Sean O’Connell