Paul Thomas Anderson started his career by making weird hot messes of movies ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia") that I absolutely adored. Then he moved into a phase of making weird character studies ("There Will Be Blood") that I also adored. Then he started making weird unpleasant movies that almost challenged their audiences to enjoy them ("The Master," "Inherent Vice") that I pretty much hated. His latest, "Phantom Thread," brings back the PTA that I know and love, and while definitely weird, is one of the most fascinatingly weird love stories I've ever seen.
Daniel Day-Lewis has said that this will be his final film, and all I can say is, "We'll miss you." He is magnificent here as a famous dress designer whose complete obsessive control over his environment becomes undone when he starts up a relationship with a young woman (Vicki Krieps) who he realizes he can't control. The thing is, in one of the film's most unpredictable and delightful turns, he realizes he likes relinquishing control but can only do so under certain circumstances. I won't spoil those circumstances for you, but let me just say that fungi are involved. We're a long way from "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Krieps gives one of the performances of the year, and I can only imagine that the reason she has been completely ignored by end-of-year awards is that she's so unknown. The other standout is Lesley Manville, absolutely terrifying as Day-Lewis's sister, whose slight disapproving lift of an eyebrow could lay waste to entire civilizations. The film is elegant and beautifully designed, the sumptuous dresses on display serving as delicate shells to hide the festering rot at the center of these characters' hearts. And I was happy to see that Johnny Greenwood received an Oscar nomination for his lush score that knows when to be restrained and when to be overheated.
"Phantom Thread" might be my favorite movie of the year.
Grade: A+
Daniel Day-Lewis has said that this will be his final film, and all I can say is, "We'll miss you." He is magnificent here as a famous dress designer whose complete obsessive control over his environment becomes undone when he starts up a relationship with a young woman (Vicki Krieps) who he realizes he can't control. The thing is, in one of the film's most unpredictable and delightful turns, he realizes he likes relinquishing control but can only do so under certain circumstances. I won't spoil those circumstances for you, but let me just say that fungi are involved. We're a long way from "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Krieps gives one of the performances of the year, and I can only imagine that the reason she has been completely ignored by end-of-year awards is that she's so unknown. The other standout is Lesley Manville, absolutely terrifying as Day-Lewis's sister, whose slight disapproving lift of an eyebrow could lay waste to entire civilizations. The film is elegant and beautifully designed, the sumptuous dresses on display serving as delicate shells to hide the festering rot at the center of these characters' hearts. And I was happy to see that Johnny Greenwood received an Oscar nomination for his lush score that knows when to be restrained and when to be overheated.
"Phantom Thread" might be my favorite movie of the year.
Grade: A+