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Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
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Reviews Counted:180
Fresh:142
Rotten:38
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Punch-Drunk Love is weird and delightfully funny, even though Sandler essentially plays the same character he has always played in all his movies.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong language including a scene of sexual dialogue
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Oct 11, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $17,791,031
Synopsis: Paul Thomas Anderson follows 1999's MAGNOLIA with the intensely compelling character study PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a quiet, shy, socially awkward man with an office in an... Paul Thomas Anderson follows 1999's MAGNOLIA with the intensely compelling character study PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a quiet, shy, socially awkward man with an office in an out-of-the-way warehouse. He is dedicated to his job as a wholesale toilet plunger salesman, he keeps a nice apartment, and he is obsessed with special offers on grocery store products. Barry's latest fixation is on frequent flier miles included with the purchase of Healthy Choice foods. Barry wears a bright blue suit, though he doesn't know why. With seven outspoken sisters, Barry is constantly being nagged, questioned, and berated. He is challenged to explain the reasons for his actions, and it eventually becomes clear that Barry cannot control his often-violent impulses, a trait which is increasingly problematic. When a beautiful woman, Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), walks into his life with an instinctive attraction to him, a nonjudgmental attitude, and unconditional love, Barry undergoes a powerful transformation. Anderson's film is a tour-de-force for which he garnered the Best Director award at Cannes 2002. Set primarily in Los Angeles and Utah, he shoots either bleak deserted spaces (apartment building hallways) or lush, exotic paradises (Hawaii). Aiming for a Technicolor look, the blue of Barry's suit in contrast with Lena's solid pinks, reds, and whites, pops off of the screen. Colorful interludes designed by visual artist Jeremy Blake offer hallucinogenic lapses from the action of the film, while the rapid percussive score by Jon Brion keeps the suspense and the emotional exasperation of the film on a constantly high level. [More]
Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman
Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Mary Lynn Rajskub
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenwriter: Paul Thomas Anderson
Producer: Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi
Composer: Jon Brion
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Reviews for Punch-Drunk Love
Shots, such as when Sandler and Watson kiss in silhouette, are truly memorable -- but Punch-Drunk Love is never more than this: a series of chocolate-box moments, PT-style.
...Punch-Drunk Love is (and always will be) the crowning achievement within Anderson's filmography.
It's clear by now that whatever characterization skill Anderson showed in his lean, mean debut, 1997's Hard Eight, was a fluke.
A trifle at 89 minutes with a genuine, heartfelt performance by Mr. Sandler, and not much else.
The film looks good and has its funny moments, but too often one senses Anderson straining to impress...
Paul Thomas Anderson used Sandler for a very specific purpose -to convey a sense of tough-luck awkwardness and smile-masking-frown frustration, and it worked perfectly.
It's a very idiosyncratic take on the genre, but it works because of Anderson's ability to challenge viewer expectations.
Anderson is simply punch-drunk on the possibilities of cinema, and sophisticated film lovers will be more than willing to go wherever he goes -- yes, even to an Adam Sandler movie.
What really makes this movie so special, apart from the revelation that Adam Sandler can act, is the direction.
Punch-drunk Love reminds me of why I go to movies in the first place. To be challenged, surprised, transported, inspired, and exhilarated.
The elements of tragedy aren't life and death issues in this movie, and Anderson's film wisely contains itself to the microcosm of this one man's beleaguered existence.
[I]t’s no secret that... certain films [are] critic’s darlings... leav[ing] moviegoers vowing never to trust a critic again. This season [it's] Punch-Drunk Love.
Unlike any romantic comedy this year, with a vision so wondrously off-kilter that you’ll be swept off your feet by it, even if you don’t fall in love at first sight.
No cumple con todas las expectativas, pero sigue siendo uno de los directores más originales y talentosos que el cine norteamericano tiene para ofrecer.
In his effort to 'redefine' the romantic comedy, Anderson has made a film that is neither romantic nor funny.
Punch Drunk Love feels like a movie Billy Wilder would make if he were he hitting his stride today and able to include liberal, but appropriate, profanity.
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