I’ve learned over the past decade to expect the unexpected from Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most exciting and talented filmmakers working today. But nothing could’ve prepared us for There Will Be Blood. Where did this film come from inside of him? It’s as if after Punch Drunk Love he decided to take the biggest 180 he could and come up with something nobody would expect from him. While this is a superb film, beautifully shot, memorably scored, with one of the most commanding performances of the year by Daniel Day Lewis, it didn’t affect me on an emotional level like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love did. In essence, I admired There Will Be Blood more than I loved it. But it’s an astonishing film nonetheless with an especially engrossing first hour.

Director Anderson’s first film was the promising Sydney (retitled Hard Eight by the studio and taken out of his hands for a different version that Anderson didn’t approve of) in 1996, and he followed that up a year later with the electric Boogie Nights, a movie that never gets old. It was really Boogie Nights that brought Anderson to the forefront, and while many may consider that his best film, Magnolia for me is Anderson’s masterpiece. It’s long at a little over three hours, but it flies by with multiple fascinating storylines and a biblically inspired ending that’s absurd as much as it’s gorgeous in its simplicity for tying everything together. Punch Drunk Love has a difficult first few minutes, but it eventually finds its footing, and it too became a wonderful film, a career high for Adam Sandler.

When I say that, for me, There Will Be Blood isn’t as successful as his previous three films, it’s hardly saying much, given that his previous films are some of my favorite movies of the last decade. The plot mostly just revolves around one guy. Anderson is smart in just letting Daniel Day Lewis go wild and crazy on the screen for two and a half hour because the guy is just a wee bit talented. Every detail, from his accent, to his mannerisms, to his facial expressions, is weirdly fascinating. He plays Daniel Plainwater, a cruel and wealthy oil man who steps over anyone to get what he wants and finds a great opportunity with a piece of land that has oil dripping beneath the surface. Much to his dismay, he has to deal with a religious “prophet” named Eli (Paul Dano) who demands that Daniel stay true to his word on the money he owes.

Anderson tells Daniel’s story as if he as obsessive over the character as the character is about his wealth and goals. I just read Anderson saying in an interview that this film, more than any he’s made thus far, was the one that was hardest to let go. This seems appropriate, since this is his first film in five years. I can see Andersoon tooling away in the editing suite for longest stretches of time on this one. The structure is a little bit awkward but works well for this storyline. We’re introduced to the character Daniel in two brief silent passages that describe how he came to strike oil and get rich. It’s not until we arrive to the third passage, the longest stretch, that we’re introduced to both his son and, well, dialogue. It’s the material with Daniel’s son that provides the most tension and stakes in the film, because we realize after awhile that Daniel may not live his son unconditionally, and he may not seem to care if he’s put into harm’s way. Young actor Dillon Freasier (in his debut film) is terrific as Daniel’s son, who has to deal all his father’s growingly frustrating eccentricities.

It’s the material later in the film concerning a man who claims to be Daniel’s brother, and an epilogue set a decade and a half later that gets a little bit slow, and a little bit out of hand. The movie comes to a grinding halt when the “brother” character appears for awhile, allowing Daniel someone else to question and bludgeon. The final half-hour, which takes place later in the 20’s in a giant mansion a la Citizen Kane, has two major scenes that go both ways. The first of the two, involving Daniel’s son, is very well done, putting a fitting end to the storyline. The last scene that takes place in a bowling alley, however memorable it may be in the overall structure of the movie, is ludicrous when thinking back on it. It’s something I might come to love in future viewings of the movie, but my reaction after first seeing it was “wow.” An hour later, it was “huh?” A few days later, “what the hell??” Now, “ridiculous!”

But there’s so much great stuff in the film that it makes up for my reservations over the second half. The cinematography by Robert Elswit, who’s worked with Anderson on all of his previous films, is absolutely gorgeous from the first frame to the last. I love films that are set in desert locations, and he showcases them so well we wish we were watching an IMAX screen. The editing, the production design, the art direction, fantastic. The score by Jonny Greenwood is especially original and haunting. I love the way we’re just throw into the first scene with his loud, booming music. The cast is all exceptional, with Day-Lewis of course, and Paul Dano, fresh off of last year’s break-out hit Little Miss Sunshine and the little-seen but brilliant The King, may be an odd choice for Daniel’s nemesis Eli Sunday, but he makes a giant impression as well. A moment in which he delivers a sermon to a crowded church, wishing an evil spirit away, thrusting his hands out into the sunlight, is a passionate, powerful moment, probably the only shot in the entire movie that feels like anything from a picture directed by Anderson.

It would be almost repetitive to say that this is a movie absolutely worth seeing, despite some problems I have with the film. Like No Country for Old Men, I’m being a little hard on There Will Be Blood because I don’t think it’s as flawless and perfect as most critics tend to think it is. It’s an extraordinary film, technically pretty damn close to perfect, but structurally a little bit all over the place. Day Lewis is the whole show here, giving a performance that will probably net him his second Oscar in February. He deserves it, as he is perfect in this role. See it for him. And see it to witness the next step in Paul Thomas Anderson’s already enthralling career. I have a feeling he has even more exciting surprises in store for us in the years to follow.