Punch-Drunk Love
Before I review “Punch-Drunk Love,” it’s important to see where I stand when it comes to the film’s unlikely collaborators, star Adam Sandler and writer-director Paul Thomas (P.T.) Anderson. Here’s a run-down of their respective key films leading up to “Punch-Drunk Love” (w/ grades):
Adam Sandler
-“Airheads” (1994)- Sandler’s drummer steals the show from Brenden Fraser’s lead singer in this dumb, goofy Rock ‘N’ Roll comedy. (B-)
-“Billy Madison” (1995)- Sandler’s first leading role was the calm before the storm; a minor hit. (Grade N/A)
-“Happy Gilmore” (1996)- The film that really proved Sandler might break the SNL-alum curse of not being successful. A cult hit even detractors find hard to resist. (C+ at the time; really need to give it another chance to grade it fairly)
-“Bulletproof” (1996)- Sandler’s worst hour, and that’s saying something. Too racist, too profane, too uninspired to make it worth watching. (F)
-“The Wedding Singer” (1998)- In my mind, Sandler’s finest hour. Charming and funny, without the overbearing sap that would water down later smashes. (A-)
-“The Waterboy” (1998)- Too dumb to be graded higher, too funny to be graded lower. Even considering “Gilmore,” the definitive showcase of Sandler’s rage-filled charisma. Kathy Bates steals the show, though. (B-, but I might want to reconsider this one too)
-“Big Daddy” (1999)- Too sappy and sentimental to be a fine Sandler showcase, but pretty funny in spite of that. (B-)
-“Little Nicky” (2000)- A mega-budget comedy- with Sandler a good kid son of the Devil (what a way to answer critics, eh?)- that bombed harder than “Waterworld,” even with Sandler fans. Rightfully so. (C-)
-“Mr. Deeds” (2002)- Another sappy, watered-down Sandler hit. Good, but where’s the rage Adam? (B-)
Paul Thomas Anderson
-“Hard Eight” (1997)- Film noir about a drifter taken under the wing of a pro gambler with more than his share of secrets. Anderson gets fine performances from John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow (superb playing against type), and Samuel L. Jackson in a smart, compelling, and small-scale thriller that showed promise. (A)
-“Boogie Nights” (1997)- Praised to no end, the story of an asshole porn star (Mark Wahlberg, void of all appeal), dillusional porn director (Burt Reynolds, void of all morals), druggie porn star mother (Julianne Moore, void of all clothes), and their “family” of adult filmmakers’ (including Heather Graham and Don Cheadle) tough transition from the swingin’ ’70s to conservative ’80s is- in story structure and overall lack of reason to care about most of the characters- a poor man’s, porn industry “GoodFellas,” minus the pleasure and charisma of Martin Scorsese’s instant gangster epic classic. I wanted to walk out, and I’m not ashamed of saying it. (F)
-“Magnolia” (1999)- Exactly two of the storylines in this Robert Altman-esque epic of depressing people leading displeasing lives are compelling (the father/son/daughter story between Jason Robards, Tom Cruise, and Julianne Moore, and the game show child prodigy and his domineering father), while the rest (with John C. Rielly’s cop, Philip Baker Hall’s sleazy game show host, and William H. Macy’s sad sack game show has-been) just make you want to kill yourself, and take the editor of this 3-hour droner along with you. Cruise and Moore do some of their best work, and the Bible-inspired conclusion (featuring a literal rain of toads) make it better than “Boogie Nights,” but it’s still “much ado about nothing” about 50% of the time. Also praised to no end. My question is, why? (C+)
Adam Sandler & Paul Thomas Anderson
“Punch-Drunk Love”- A
I present Exhibit D in my case as to why Paul Thomas Anderson should stick to intimate character pieces like “Hard Eight,” and eschew bloated mosaic/epics, like “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.” “Punch-Drunk Love” is a fascinating showcase for Sandler to show his beguiling, sweet-natured charisma from “The Wedding Singer” while displaying the bust-your-gut rage shown in “The Waterboy” and “Happy Gilmore.” He plays Barry Egan, a shy, soft-spoken young man abused by his seven sisters (who call him “Gay Boy”) who makes a mistake by calling a phone sex line that begins terrorizing him, hitting him up for more money than he’d like to shell out, and hitting him in general when he doesn’t. In the middle of this crisis, he finds a promotion that says that if he buys a certain amount of Healthy Choice products, he earns 500 frequent flyer miles, and starts to fall in love with a friend of his sister’s named Lena (Emily Watson, as lovely and radiant as she’s ever been). That’s what you need to know.
What you don’t know is that it’s probably Anderson’s most original and resonant film to date. It’s not an exercise in style over substance like “Hard Eight” (or “Boogie Nights” for that matter), an ambitious failure to top Scorsese and Tarantino at their own game like “Boogie Nights,” or a pretentious, long-winded (and overlong) “Short Cuts” for suicide contemplators to feel good about themselves over like “Magnolia.” It’s got the stylistic greatness- courtesy the cinematography by Robert Elswit- hinted at in P.T.A.’s previous films; it’s got the substance thanks to P.T.’s surprisingly sly and touching story that felt overcooked in “Magnolia,” non-existance in “Boogie Nights,” and skin-deep in “Hard Eight”; it’s got a 4-star soundtrack in Jon Brion’s brilliantly evocative score; and it’s got acting surprises courtesy Sandler’s subtle and grounded performance and the shocking chemistry between Sandler and Watson that makes “Punch-Drunk Love” one of the most pleasant surprises of the year…and a promising step in the right direction for a lauded filmmaker- he won the Cannes Best Director prize this year- who left me wanting more- in the worst way- after three films, and an actor who’s left me laughing- though not feeling- since I first got to know him onscreen.
Originally Written: March 2003
*It was so nice, I’ll recommend it twice:*
“Punch-Drunk Love”
I had the great fortune of watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s Adam Sandler experiment again in theatres courtesy our friendly neighborhood discount theater, and I enjoyed it even more the second time around. There’s nothing deep or philosophical or pretentious about what P.T.A. wants to do; unlike his other- in my opinion, lesser- films (“Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia”), it’s a rather simple and moving love story between two people who are emotionally off, and- for lack of a better term- “need” love, beautifully played by Sandler and Emily Watson, given life through their intelligence, daring, and Anderson’s superb script, and ably supported by knockout turns by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman and an evocative score by P.T. regular Jon Brion. If I’m gushing over this flick, I apologize; “Punch-Drunk Love” is a film to fall in love with, to watch again and again, to remember fondly, to share with a loved one. I don’t know if I’d add it immediately to my all-time Favorites list, but give it time, it’d no doubt find a spot on that list. It’s that memorable, and that surprising.
