The novel upon which the movie is based explored the themes of predestination, free will and chance, and these questions are embodied in the person of Sheriff Bell (Jones), who is near retirement and voices the astonishment of someone who has lived long enough and dealt with enough evil to recognize how it has changed over time. Between these two axes is Llewelyn Moss, the unlikely hero, neither completely good nor bad, who stumbles upon the satchel of money. He knows it’s from a drug deal gone wrong, he knows bad guys will come after it, and he decides to pit his will and wits against theirs. He’s a poor man, but one who loves his wife, and he has a sense of humor. We like him. We’d like him to win, but there are no champions in this movie. The Bad guy gets away, the hero dies, and the nominal good guy retires, still trying to comprehend the evil he knows is out there, but with which he has decided not to contend.
We are not expected to like these characters or what they do with their lives. Yet, in the beginning of Blood we do like Daniel Plainview, even though the emotional rationale for his relentless ambition is absent. The almost wordless beginning of the movie is testimony not to an inarticulate man, but to one not given to self-examination. The future oil tycoon is a hard man working with other hard men who are not afraid to gamble their youth and strength muscling wealth out of the earth.
A workplace tragedy occurs, and without fanfare, Plainview feeds a bottle to the infant orphaned as a result. We love the guy, but expect him to turn the babe over to someone else. This does not happen. On a train, the child locks eyes with Plainview and reaches a dimpled hand up to the stubbled chin of his savior. Plainview smiles whimsically.
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