15 Most Over-Rated Movies Of The 21st Century

Google Paul Thomas Anderson’s fifth film There Will Be Blood and you’ll be greeted with lashings of laudatory ramblings like ‘a work of art’, ‘an epic masterpiece’ and ‘this generation’s Citizen Kane’. But in its grand intentions, in trying so hard to be all of these things, the film has become weighed down by its own portentous bloat and nowhere is this more evident than in its star Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance as unhinged, bow-legged oil tycoon Daniel Plainview.

There’s no doubt that Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best actors of his generation (at least if you put faith in Academy Award judges who have decorated him with a record-breaking three Best Actor Oscars) and not to mention one of the most dedicated, but in taking his characters so seriously his method acting often tends to result in performances that edge towards over-the-top. Fast forward to the ending of There Will Be Blood and his infamous ‘I drink your milkshake, slurrrrrrrrrp’ scene if you need proof.

In this sense, There Will Be Blood and Day-Lewis are perfectly suited to each other, both so preoccupied with being great that it’s painfully obvious and a tad pompous. Great if that is your thing as a film fan, but a bit of humility from director and star wouldn’t have gone amiss.