There Will Be Blood

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Overall episode#265Source sheet order

Movie year20072000s

Tomatometer91%Critics’ score

Metacritic93View score

Roger Ebert—No review recorded

DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonDrama

FROM THE CONVERSATION

What they said about the movie

The hosts celebrate Sean Fennessey's 40th birthday by revisiting There Will Be Blood as a towering, overwhelming PTA work that has grown into a defining 21st-century American movie. They emphasize Daniel Day-Lewis's performance, Paul Thomas Anderson's leap as a filmmaker, the film's humor and ambiguity, and its enduring relevance as a story about greed, power, oil, religion, and American conquest.

Based only on this episode’s transcriptTimes approximateSpeakers were clearly identifiedExplore the connections

In this conversation

Bill Simmons

Sean Fennessey

Chris RyanCraig Horlbeck

WHY IT WORKS

What made it rewatchable

01Daniel Day-Lewis's performance is treated as an all-time, endlessly rewatchable showcase of physicality, voice, and control. About 16 min
02The movie reveals more comic energy and ambiguity on repeat viewings, especially in the Eli/Plainview confrontations. Opening minutes
03It works both as a symbolic epic and as a straightforward thriller about land, oil, and corporate maneuvering. Opening minutes
04The filmmaking is immersive and visually memorable, especially the oil derrick, the beach scenes, and the final bowling alley sequence. About 1:12

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Their main criticisms

minorThe film is not especially fun despite being funny, and its intensity can be exhausting. Opening minutes
moderateThe absence of women is a noticeable limitation, with one host calling it a 'boy movie for boys.' About 1:04
moderatePaul Dano is viewed as a step down from what Philip Seymour Hoffman might have brought to Eli. About 1:20 · medium confidence
minorSome questioned whether the movie had fully reached greatness upon release, especially compared with No Country for Old Men. About 1:12

SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO

Standout moments

Favorite

Opening well sequence and leg break

Plainview crawls from the mine shaft after breaking his leg, establishing survival, greed, and bodily commitment immediately.

About 1:28

Favorite

Eli Sunday sermon confrontation

Plainview watches Eli preach and immediately locks onto him as a target and rival.

About 1:36

Favorite

Oil derrick explosion

The well explosion is described as an astonishing action set piece and visual payoff.

About 1:36

Favorite

I have abandoned my boy baptism

The baptism scene is treated as volatile, theatrical, and hilarious in retrospect because Plainview is using Eli while humiliating him.

About 1:36

Favorite

Henry and Daniel on the beach

The beach conversation exposes Henry's lie and is admired for its sunlight/shadow composition and quiet tension.

About 1:44

positive

Drunk lunch with H.W.

Plainview feeds and drinks with his deaf son in a scene that reveals both tenderness and power imbalance.

About 1:44

positive

Bandy ranch / land deal maneuvering

The meeting with Bandy and the land-hammering strategy is praised as a subtle business-and-geometry sequence.

About 2:00

Favorite

Final bowling alley murder

The milkshake speech culminates in a bizarre, explosive ending where Plainview kills Eli in the bowling alley.

About 1:44

WHERE THEY DISAGREED

The biggest debates

They partly agreed About 8 min

Does the movie work more as a Paul Thomas Anderson movie or a Daniel Day-Lewis movie?

Sean Fennessey
PTA by a mile; the film changed PTA's standing more than it changed DDL's.

Bill Simmons
DDL is the decisive force; the performance is inseparable from the movie's greatness.

Chris Ryan
The director built the whole game, but the performance is also singular and maybe the movie's core.

No final agreement About 2:00

Is Daniel Plainview secretly gay or erotically attached to Henry?

Chris Ryan
Possibly yes, or at least intensely attracted/attached in a way that exceeds fraternal interest.

Sean Fennessey
He reads the relationship as surrogate-friend/need-based rather than explicitly sexual.

Bill Simmons
Leans toward ambiguity and says the film supports multiple readings.

They partly agreed About 1:20

Who is the stronger candidate for Eli, Paul Dano or Philip Seymour Hoffman?

Chris Ryan
Hoffman could have taken the role to another level, though Dano is good.

Sean Fennessey
Dano is the right fit because the role needs a younger, more theatrical huckster energy.

Bill Simmons
Dano works, but Hoffman would have been interesting and maybe greater.

They partly agreed About 1:12

Which movie won the 2007 awards battle, There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men?

Bill Simmons
There Will Be Blood has aged into the more important film.

Chris Ryan
There Will Be Blood is the 21st-century movie and now feels ahead.

Sean Fennessey
No Country won the year at the time, but the balance may have shifted since.

12 People discussedActors, directors, writers, and producers

very favorablePaul Thomas AndersonBill Simmons: Called Sean's favorite filmmaker and the decisive force behind the movie's scale, imagery, and meaning. Opening minutes very favorableDaniel Day-LewisChris Ryan: Praised as possibly giving his best performance ever, with extraordinary physical and vocal control. About 16 min

mixedPaul DanoBill Simmons: Seen as good but outmatched by DDL; the hosts also discuss him as a lucky replacement and a strong younger actor. About 24 min

favorablePhilip Seymour HoffmanChris Ryan: Imagined as an alternate Henry or Eli and treated as one of the generation's greatest actors. About 1:20

favorableJohnny GreenwoodBill Simmons: His score is credited as one of the film's stars and a major driver of tension. About 40 min

mixedRoger EbertBill Simmons: Referenced as offering a respected but skeptical early review that called the film great but not perfect. About 1:04 neutralManohla DargisBill Simmons: Mentioned for a perceptive review that inspired a comparison to earlier landmark films. About 1:12 · medium confidence favorableQuentin TarantinoChris Ryan: Used as an external endorsement of the film as one of the decade's best, while still preferring Boogie Nights personally. About 8 min

favorableJack FiskBill Simmons: Praised for production design that helps 'build the town' and for making the landscape feel new and constructed. About 1:12

favorableRobert ElswitBill Simmons: Cinematography is praised through the film's memorable shots and visual scale. About 1:12 favorablePhilip Baker HallBill Simmons: Mentioned hypothetically as a possible Standard Oil-type figure in another version of the movie. About 2:08 · low confidence neutralDamon WayansBill Simmons: Mentioned jokingly as part of an imagined all-black remake. About 2:08 · low confidence

12 Conversation takesSpeakers shown only where the transcript identifies them

Sean FennesseyLoved it

Says the movie is his all-time favorite and an overwhelming, suffocating film in the best way.

About 8 min

Bill SimmonsLiked it

There Will Be Blood versus No Country for Old Men

Argues the film has since surpassed No Country for Old Men in cultural and artistic stature.

About 1:12

Chris RyanLoved it

Paul Thomas Anderson's career trajectory

Says the movie is the moment PTA moved from exciting talent to major American filmmaker.

About 8 min

Sean FennesseyLoved it

There Will Be Blood

Frames it as a movie about America's growth, power, and industrialization rather than just a symbolic art film.

About 16 min

Bill SimmonsLoved it

Daniel Day-Lewis

Treats DDL as an all-time great whose physical choices and line delivery are nearly unmatched.

About 16 min

Chris RyanLoved it

Daniel Day-Lewis

Emphasizes that his genius is tied to physicality, posture, and the way he disappears into character.

About 16 min

Bill SimmonsLoved it

The final bowling alley confrontation

Calls the ending a crazy, perfect finish and one of the film's most memorable stretches.

About 1:44

Sean FennesseyLoved it

Ambiguity in the film

Argues that the film's unresolved motives and contradictions are central to its rewatchability.

About 2:08

Chris RyanLoved it

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Says Hoffman could have been a fascinating Eli or Henry and is one of the few actors who could alter the movie's level.

About 1:20

Bill SimmonsLoved it

Paul Thomas Anderson's directing

Argues PTA is really the winner of the movie because he conceived and built the entire world.

About 2:08

Chris RyanLoved it

The oil derrick explosion

Calls the derrick sequence breathtaking and the movie's most obvious rewatchable centerpiece.

About 1:12

Sean FennesseyLoved it

Johnny Greenwood's score

Says the score during the explosion makes the scene race like a thriller.

About 1:52

5 ThemesThe larger ideas in the discussion

Capitalism and greed

Plainview is framed as a prototype of the modern conqueror, driven by competition and accumulation at any cost.

About 16 min

Religion versus oil/power

The film is repeatedly described as a story where faith structure gives way to oil, industry, and material power.

About 24 min

American history and conquest

The movie is treated as a pocket history of California and the broader American project of settling, industrializing, and exploiting land.

About 16 min

Ambiguity and duality

The hosts stress that many relationships and motives remain unresolved: Plainview/HW, Plainview/Henry, Eli's sincerity, and the ending itself.

About 2:08

Paul Thomas Anderson's evolution

The film is treated as PTA's breakthrough from gifted filmmaker to major American auteur with a big historical statement to make.

About 8 min

25 Facts and referencesProduction notes and other movies mentioned

Production note

The film won eight Oscar nominations and won for Best Actor and Best Cinematography, while No Country for Old Men won Best Picture and Best Director.

About 1:04

Production note

Johnny Greenwood's score was nominated for a Grammy but not eligible for the Oscars because it referenced other existing music.

About 1:12

Production note

The movie was made for a reported $25 million and grossed about $76.2 million.

About 1:12

Production note

PTA wrote the script while obsessively watching Treasure of the Sierra Madre and even using Microsoft Word.

About 16 min

Production note

Paul Dano was cast late after another actor was replaced, and he had to play both Plainview brothers' counterpart on short notice.

About 1:20

Production note

The film's land and family story is loosely based on the Doheny oil family and California development history.

About 16 min

Production note

The production used the Greystone mansion in Beverly Hills for the final sequence area.

About 2:08 · medium confidence

Production note

Dylan Frazier, who played young H.W., had this as his only acting credit.

About 2:08

Production note

PTA owns a vintage 1910 Path camera used for some shots in the film.

About 2:08 · medium confidence

Production note

The 'I drink your milkshake' line is tied to the Teapot Dome scandal and Albert Fall's language.

About 2:08

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Cited as PTA's anchor and structural inspiration for a straightforward greed story.

About 16 min

Boogie Nights

Used as the other major PTA benchmark and a more overtly rewatchable film.

Opening minutes

The Master

Mentioned as another PTA work that also grew in comedy and significance over time.

Opening minutes

Citizen Kane

Used as a model for a film whose importance took decades to fully settle.

About 1:12

Chinatown

Mentioned as another California power story and a landmark American film.

About 1:12

Greed

Referenced as an early 20th-century equivalent of a great, important film about greed.

About 1:12

No Country for Old Men

The main awards rival and comparison point for greatness, tone, and legacy.

About 1:12

Michael Clayton

Used as another 2007 film in the awards discussion.

About 1:04

The Social Network

Cited as part of a strong run of late-2000s/early-2010s American movies.

About 8 min

Inception

Mentioned as another major film from the same late-2000s/early-2010s era.

About 8 min

Fargo

Brought up as a Coen brothers benchmark when discussing awards and legacy.

About 1:12

The Big Lebowski

Mentioned as one of the Coens' more culturally visible films.

About 1:12

King Kunta

Referenced while discussing modern power, yams, and Kendrick Lamar's lyricism.

About 8 min

The Shining

Used as a visual comparison for the bowling alley and the film's creepy framing.

About 2:08

Thor Love and Thunder

Joked about as an example of a recent movie using no opening credits.

About 2:08 · low confidence

11 Running jokes and short linesRecurring bits captured from the conversation

Sean's birthday movie pick

The entire episode is framed as Sean's 40th birthday selection, with Bill and Chris teasing him about the choice and future birthday requests.

Opening minutes

Competition/self-recognition jokes

The hosts repeatedly joke about competitiveness, being rivals, and Daniel Plainview as a personality mirror.

About 16 min

PTA and DDL as comically committed weirdos

They keep returning to stories of method acting, obsession, and almost absurd artistic seriousness.

About 16 min

'Get out, ghost' / Eli rant quoting

Eli's sermon and outburst are quoted repeatedly as a comic running bit.

About 1:36

'Plainview goes to Sweetgreen'

They joke about modernizing Plainview into a contemporary lunch-ordering bit.

About 1:44 · medium confidence

I have a competition in me

The hosts keep quoting Plainview's declaration as a personal motto and show tagline candidate.

About 1:36

Sean Fennessey

“I love it as much as the day I saw it.”

About 8 min

Bill Simmons

“I have a competition in me.”

About 1:36

Bill Simmons

“I drink your milkshake!”

About 1:44

Chris Ryan

“This is the 21st century movie.”

About 1:12

Bill Simmons

“Get out of here, ghost!”

About 1:36

MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT

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UNITED STATES

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WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

Movies to watch before and after.

Three movies to watch before There Will Be Blood, and three to watch next.

Finding six movies…Three to watch first and three to watch next.

ON THE MIC

3 voices on this episode

Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables

Chris RyanThe Rewatchables

Sean FennesseyThe Rewatchables

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