Sir Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors of all time, producing many utterly brilliant performances over the last 25 years. It's his portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood that is both his most mesmerising and terrifying though. Plainview starts the film as a silver miner, but a little like the aforementioned Jordan Belfort, as the film progresses he becomes more and more of a monster the more power he gets. He sets up his own oil drilling company, and adopts the young son of a worker who tragically dies in an accident. Together they travel America looking for new places to start drilling, and he shallowly uses the youngster as an excellent selling tool. Plainview's wealth grows, and he starts to become a cantankerous, murderous bully. It ends with him at an incredibly low ebb, but seemingly not remotely affected by the terrible things he has done. You simply have to marvel at Day-Lewis' performance, who makes Plainview so convincing that you completely forget an actor is playing him throughout the film.
