In "There Will Be Blood", Paul Thomas Anderson has crafted a movie about a human carnivore who is as deadly as the white shark in "Jaws." Make no mistake about it, this is a significant movie. However, given its intense portrayal of one man's descent into total greed and avarice, it is never comfortable to watch.

Not since Charlize Theron's character Aileen Wuornos in "Monster" (2003) has such an appalling human being as Daniel Day-Lewis's Daniel Plainview dominated the screen. But at least you could look upon Wuornos somewhat sympathetically as being the wretched bi-product of profound mistreatment. With Plainview it is difficult to have any reaction other than increased revulsion.

Plainview is an oil wildcatter at the turn of the 20th Century. He is the perfect profit-driven creature, unfettered by any pusillanimous notions of kindness or affection.

Plainview's sole reason to exist is to avariciously consume everything around him. He admittedly hates humanity, looking, in his own words, "for the worst in people." Incapable of humor or any vestige of real human emotion, he exploits every human relationship, including that with his adopted son, to expand his oil empire.

Additionally, it is not enough that Lewis's Plainview succeeds, but that all others around him must fail. He not only needs to win, but also to humiliate his victims. Self-centered, caring for no one once they are no longer of use, Plainview may be the most debased character ever to appear in film.

Dedicated to dominating everyone, Plainview has no time for personal relationships, including that with women. Unless my memory has failed me, other than Lewis's Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York" (2002), I don't remember another central hero or villain on the screen that was entirely devoid of any type of romantic pursuit on any level. ("The Terminator" (1984) doesn't count --- he was a machine!)

While Lewis commands virtually every scene, his relationship with Paul Dano's (Little Miss Sunshine) evangelical preacher provides the defining moments of this wretchedly entertaining film. Dano is superb as an Elmer Gantry type tent preacher who mistakenly thinks he can match wits with Lewis's oilman. Their joint time on the screen is dynamic, particularly the one involving Lewis's forced conversion and baptism in order to obtain a lease for some desired land.

Day-Lewis is riveting and overpowering as Plainview, and I will risk speculating that he will win this year's Oscar for Best Actor, particularly since he was unfairly denied for the previously mentioned "Gangs of New York." It remains fascinating that Day-Lewis would be drawn to such characters that are as loathsome as they are completely unlikable.

As I was anticipating this film's overdue appearance here in Indianapolis, a friend of mine expressed apprehension about going. When I asked why, she said that she wasn't sure how entertaining it would be to sit in a state of anxiety for close to two and one-half hours. In that regard, please be forewarned that this study in malevolent greed is emotionally exhausting, and I sensed that most in the audience greeted its violent ending with a recognizable sense of relief.

If you will recall, at the close of the classic "Citizen Kane" (1941), Orson Welles was left recalling memories of his innocent, joyful youth by saying the word "Rosebud", the name of his sled. Unlike Kane, however, Plainview calls out nothing, as one strongly suspects that there was never a truly innocent moment in his life. Put another way, Plainview is Bill the Butcher without the warmth.