The movie starts off like a documentary on early oil drilling. No character development, no plot development, not even dialogue.

The main character, Daniel Plain View, has few if any redeeming qualities. He seems to delight in taking petty revenge against anyone who crosses him including "his son".

The religious character in all this, Eli Sunday, is made of the same phoney stuff. Eli manipulates people to sell religion. Daniel manipulates people to sell oil.

The critics raved about this film on Rotten Tomatoes, but I found it hard to get entertained by some foul tempered lying devil who wants to share his personal hell with you. One Star.