Review of Punch-Drunk Love (2002) by Kyle B — 18 Apr 2018

(4 out of 4) I won't lie, this may be my favorite romantic comedy. Punch-Drunk Love centers around a emotionally abused man, played by Adam Sandler, who undergoes a variety of unusual circumstances. Some of the events bring him joy such as encountering a nice woman whom he falls in love with, and he also finds a incredible loophole in the fine print of a promotional deal which involve collecting flyer miles by buying pudding. Much of his life though centers around being tormented by his seven sisters who are some of the most realistically diabolical human beings I've ever seen. There is also a plot line involving people that work for a "particular" phone line that set out to ruin his life and take advantage of him. It all comes down to Sandler working through his circumstances. While I can't consider myself a fan of Sandler's more mainstream work, those who have no awareness of some of his independent filmography should really give this a chance. You truly feel for his character. He has underwent many cruel circumstances in his life that have severely damaged him on a deep level, and he's having a hard time with coping. He is a deeply lonely man. This film was written and directed by P.T. Anderson who is among the most accomplished auteurs on the film scene today, and he gives Sandler a chance to really shine and sink into depths that showcase his great acting capabilities. Really, all for the performances are top-notch and should be respected. The score by Jon Brion is also noteworthy. One detail I enjoyed was when some of the romantic score would play, it would be timed specifically to a perfect moment in the film to play it with. What I mean is when the music got to the big swooning parts, it would correlate with a touching image, which resulted in a variety of moving scenes. The cinematography should also be mentioned. In many of the scenes, you would see colorful lens flares on the screen which would..... well I won't mention what it means, but it's all there intentionally and it works.

While there are details and moments that are displayed on screen that I can't make sense of, some of the strange moments that occur are presented in a confident way that keeps you from feeling turned off. When something would come up that wouldn't make since, my rationale would be "I don't know what this means, but I feel it means something". This is a remarkable achievement.

PS: If you check this out, I recommend checking out the Superman theory for this film.