Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Powerful

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I clearly just don't get PTA. Boogie Nights was kind of alright, but this is another one of his that just makes me go "Huh?" If PTA was going for a magic realist vibe, the tone is completely inconsistent. Are we supposed to laugh at the main character or empathise with him? What does Emily Watson's character see in him? How does Sandler's business afford so many staff? None of these questions are remotely addressed by the film and so it's a disappointment from start to finish.

Awful movie.Don't waste your precious time on this,worst characterization and do you know what is the biggest negative of this movie its background score,it just gave me a headache.It's not at all a romantic comedy movie it's a thriller.I just liked the ending of the movie that too OK compared to the remaining part of the film.

My favorite film of all time. I saw this movie back in high school and it has only grown in my mind since. Every time I watch it I notice new layers. Such a beautiful movie about how, now matter who you are or how strange you may feel, there is always someone out there for you. No matter how doubtful or weak you may feel now, when you find the person you love, you will be filled with an inner strength you never knew you had. I made sure to pick up the Criterion blu-ray the day it was released and it was like seeing an entirely different movie. Just small moments of physical comedy happening in the background add so much to the whimsy and charm of this movie. If only Adam Sandler wasn't so desperate of populism, he could be doing interesting character work like this.

Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson is responsible for some of the most interesting human dramas of the past 15 years. Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood are fascinating character studies, focusing on greed, corruption, parenthood, loss, and suppressed emotions among other things. In Punch-Drunk Love Anderson tackles love. The result is PT Anderson's most complete and most satisfying work yet. Adam Sandler stars as a Barry Egan, a middling salesman and business owner who lives a mundane, solitary life. The film begins with Egan cooking up a scheme of sorts to capitalize on a frequent-flyer sweepstakes' marketing oversight. This scheme becomes an important focal point of the film after he is introduced to a friend of one of his seven sisters, Lena Leonard (Emily Watson). Lena clearly likes him, but Barry's self consciousness and inner sadness keep him from embracing her. There is also a subplot involving a sex-line and money extortion, which may seem out of place in similar love stories, but in the heightened reality, magic-realism world that PT Anderson has created, they are as essential as the rest of the story. I won't spoil how the pieces come together, but I will say that unlike Boogie Nights and Magnolia, movies which promised to tie together multiple plot lines and failed, Punch-Drunk Love weaves the seemingly disconnected stories together to paint a comprehensive picture of a man.And what a man he is. Barry Egan is a complete, unique and constantly fascinating character. He is written well, yes, but Adam Sandler's portrayal is a revelation. Sandler's expressions, body language, mannerisms, and voice are completely in tune with the tone of the movie, for one. There is something slightly off-center with him. He displays a certain type of quirky humor, but there is a deep undercurrent of darkness underneath; insecurities that bubble up to the surface in sometimes explosive ways. This is all communicated through Sandler's acting. There is a scene where Barry is jumped by a gang of "enforcers" and the way Sandler flinches and cries "Ow, ow, ow!" before the guy actually hits him, combined with the way in which he runs away from the fight, it generates a deep empathy for his character in just a few seconds. Sandler's performance is entirely made up of moments like that. He spends most of the movie just restrained enough so that we believe in his few outbursts. You can't help for feel for this guy who has been tortured by his sisters, who feels lonely but can't seem to bring himself to create relationships, who's insecurities have almost emotionally crippled him.Sandler's performance is clearly the focal point of the movie. He creates the empathy for the character, which in turn gives us a rooting interest in the love story. Because of Barry's sincerity, his kindness, and his hidden sadness, you root for him to pull himself together and find the love that is sitting right in front of him. Watson's Lena is an admittedly less rounded character, at least in the way she is written. We don't know why she loves Barry other than the fact that she saw his picture and thought he was cute. However, Emily Watson's performance communicates much more than the script does. We can infer her infatuation with Barry by the way she reacts to his sweet gestures, by the look in her eyes when they are together. Both performances are great, but Watson's is the more subtly affecting.Punch-Drunk Love is simultaneously a superb character study and love story. The filmmaking is rich and exciting, and the performances, especially Adam Sandler's, are endlessly compelling. Paul Thomas Anderson is up to the tricky task of alternating between the strange, the funny, the sad, and the uplifting tones of the story. Punch- Drunk Love might be the most insightful love story I've ever seen. It's a stand-up-and-cheer type of romance that avoids all the usual clichés and flawlessly endears us to a character that we have never seen before. PT Anderson has made more challenging, audacious movies, but none have been as satisfying as this effort.91/100