I caught this film on Friday and was very impressed.

Daniel Day-Louis, who's doing an odd John Huston imitation, plays a very hard working oil prospector who initially will put up with anything to succeed. Later, he becomes a businessman who constantly strategizes to get what he wants, with very mixed results.

He comes into contact with the people of this little town, on top of massive oil, which is subtly dominated by this young man who claims to have magical prophet powers. This creates trouble, but it's handled in a understated manner, which I liked a lot.

So, it's huckster salesman versus huckster salesman.

A really great part of the film is DDL's performance and the weird controlled way he delivers lines especially when his character is excited/upset. He's one of the weirdest and hard to figure out characters in a long time.

Speaking of which, I'd love to discuss the theme of the film once people see it. I'm usually real quick to figure out what films mean, but this one left me a little puzzled.

I am DYING to see this. The last movie I saw in the theater was the most recent HP.

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You know, the homeless make desperate, passionate lovers. But they will rob you blind.

It's worth going to the theater, but it could still be enjoyed on TV because of the performances.

Yeah, and if I have to settle for seeing it on DVD, that's fine too. I just like the whole experience of getting out, and seeing a movie when it's new and in a theater. I keep reading these amazing reviews about it, though.

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You know, the homeless make desperate, passionate lovers. But they will rob you blind.

I love the group experience of watching a film. When I'm at home I can coolly watch any movie, but when I'm watching with others and get more laughs or whatever emotion is going on. I learned that in a theater class, and it's true for me.

I saw it today. Finally.

Loved it. Loved it. It ended a bit abruptly, but I still loved it.

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You know, the homeless make desperate, passionate lovers. But they will rob you blind.

I'm glad to hear it.

DDL was doing some crazy acting there wasn't he.

What do you think the ending was about. Moreover, what do you think the larger meaning of the film was, if you like thinking about that kind of thing.

Well, like I said - it ended VERY abruptly for me. I kinda sat there for a moment like "huh?" But there are often moments in PTA films that hit me that way.

Basically, it just felt like he simply snapped. I actually started to try to think about it as I left the theater, but having remember previous films, decided to just think of the very first thing that came to my mind. Which was: he just went crazy. All of the killing he did (whether directly or as a result of his drills and wells and derricks), coupled with H.W.'s "betrayal" just sent him over the edge.

One thing I thought was interesting was the whole Paul thing. For a good deal of the movie, I was convinced that Paul and Eli were the same person. I'm still not entirely convinced that they weren't.

I'm happy that I was right about why H.W. started the fire. As soon as I saw the trail lead to Henry's bed, I knew it.

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You know, the homeless make desperate, passionate lovers. But they will rob you blind.

Yeah, the Paul/Eli thing was weirdly vague.

However, it could have been that Paul represented what Eli really was, which was a person who would sell people out for personal gain. I see no reason why he needed to be a twin unless it was to represent an alter ego kind of thing.

Eli and the DDL character seemed to be two sides of the American coin. DDL is the smooth Capitalist Dream, which ultimately exploits and destroys, and Eli is the kind of Dreams Come True Magic (exploits/destroys), which most Americans call religion.

In the film, as opposed to life where the Capitalist and the Priest get along just great, the one force attempts to make the other bow it its will, and they end up destroying each other. When they finally do though both seem to have already self-destructed quite a bit.

Beyond the characters, I think that was the theme of the film.


Favorite Scene:

I like the conversion scene where DDL's voice still sounded like he was in some business meeting even though he was supposed to be "filled with the holy spirit" or whatever. He couldn't stop hustling and the preacher could care less because he so got off on the savior role.

Nice. I like that.

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You know, the homeless make desperate, passionate lovers. But they will rob you blind.