Phantom Thread

2017 drama

Rating: 17/20

Plot: A famous dressmaker meets the love of his life.

Daniel Day-Lewis? Nah, it's Jonny Greenwood's score that is the star of this film. I've never been one to listen to film scores detached from the film, but I could not shake this one from my head after I saw Phantom Thread, an exquisite earworm that kept me awake and distracted me when people were trying to tell me about things that weren't as important as Greenwood's Phantom Thread score. I'm not sure a day has passed without something from this being stuck in my head, and I've played it a few times over the last couple of weeks. I even listened to a couple of Radiohead albums.

Ok, Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty good, too. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little attracted to the guy--more, I think, as he gets older. I really hope he doesn't retire. The body language, the timing and delivery of surprising comic lines, an understated intensity. Day-Lewis, not surprisingly, embodies yet another character and every ounce of the performance feels so very real.

Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps do more than just keep up with them. The subtleties of their performances fit so well with the nonchalantly brilliant direction of Paul Thomas Anderson. I've heard people tell me that this movie bored them or that they were underwhelmed by the whole thing, but I just don't get it. I audibly gasped or shook my head in awe during a few scenes, especially a climactic one near the end which I can't really talk about without spoiling things. Watch that scene though and then find for me another scene that is that quietly intense.