Review of Punch-Drunk Love (2002) by Gerardistheway — 16 Aug 2016

The fourth film by Paul Thomas Anderson is easily my favorite rom-com, and the only one in the genre that I can honestly say I enjoyed. Adam Sandler, who has been spiraling downward further into a state of mediocrity, ought to take hints on writing and acting from this film, which is easily one of his best.

The story follows Barry Egan, a lonely, emotionally unbalanced man who juggles selling toilet plungers with his accident-prone workers, putting up with his seven overbearing older sisters, and late-night phone sex. Yeah, that last one doesn't work out so well for him, as when the company (operated out of a Utah mattress store) attempts to extort him for more money they stalk his work phone and send thugs after him, from whom he runs on foot on a deserted street while they pursue in a pickup truck. All of this is coincidentally happening while he's trying to strike a connection with a co-worker of his sister's...Can't a guy get a break? Regardless, Barry navigates these difficulties to the best of his abilities with alternating calm, slightly worried submissiveness and outright brutal rage. The switch is pretty entertaining to watch.

Now upon viewing this film, all of the jokes might not be immediately evident, as they shouldn't; this isn't the kind of cheap, gag-reliant humor you find in most mainstream comedy films these days. The laughs have a tendency to sneak up on you--the jokes are more subtle and non-conventional (Anderson somehow finds a way to make a car crash and random abandonment of a harmonium close to the beginning of the film hilarious) in a way that not many people can appreciate anymore. This is intelligent humor, rather than the tired garbage populating Sandler's more recent attempts (looking at you, "The Do-Over").

As an added bonus, this film gives Sandler the opportunity to show off his true acting range, and rather than being the one-trick pony we're used to seeing him as he is at once darkly serious, inanely goofy, and instantly likable, and the ease with which Sandler goes from push-over to the one doing the shoving will make you need to do a double-take. The relatability of Barry is one of the most appealing things about his character; we've all had high and low points during romance, as well as loves so strong we thought we'd run follow that person to Hawaii if that's what it took (Oh, wait a second...). The supporting roles are played with brilliance and both support and complement the lead role, whether it be Philip Seymour Hoffman (a frequent Anderson collaborator until his untimely demise) as the mobster-esque owner of the Provo mattress store, Luis Guzman as Barry's dedicated second-in-command Lance, or Emily Watson as Lena, the object of Barry's affection who's given much more to do and say in this film than she was in "Equilibrium".

The time spent on character development is one of my favorite things about this movie; when we first meet Barry, he's a lonely workaholic who seems frightened and confused by the world outside the safety bubble of his garage workstation, so awkward with Lena in their first discussion that he can barely maintain eye contact with her. By the end of the film his confidence has markedly improved, and indeed he seems like a new man, displaying a skill with the discarded harmonium (which he decided to take) that he had previously kept hidden. So deeply has Lena affected him that he, slowly but surely, begins making major changes in his life: he acts on impulse rather than retreating to the safety of his office, stands up to his sister (at least one of them) and follows the former on a business trip using enormous quantities of frequent flier miles amassed from buying pudding (one of Anderson's signature side-plots to keep your interest when things seem to be getting slow).

The completely oddball nature of Barry and Lena's romance makes it noticeably different than the ones found in many rom-coms: it's fresher, more unique and original, and is a breath of fresh air into the genre. Paul Thomas Anderson has yet to make a bad movie, and in his collaboration with Adam Sandler he finds just the right mix of drama, humor, and sweetness that will soften the heart of even the coldest movie-goer.