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Crude truth: the oil drama There Will Be Blood is an epic disappointment.

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The intrigue has been building since May 2006, when writer director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love) commenced production on his fifth feature film, There Will Be Blood, loosely based on the first section of an Upton Sinclair novel called Oil! Despite the fact that Sinclair's story takes place in California, Anderson insisted on shooting mostly in Mafia, where he erected an enormous set across five hundred acres and cast a number of townspeople in supporting parts. But other than the usual gossipy details from the locals, who reported seeing the film's star, Daniel Day-Lewis, jogging around town in a heavy sweat suit, information about the actual movie was scarce. No members of the press were allowed to visit the set; the contents of the script were kept closely under wraps. The film even bypassed the usual splashy fall showings at Venice and Toronto this year and instead had a "surprise screening" world premiere at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse. The lucky few hundred who attended emerged uttering breathless superlatives, but even they seemed incapable of communicating much...

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