Dir: P.T.Anderson. Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Luiz Guzman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Mary Lynn Rajskub.
As with his previous films, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk is a real oddity, even more so than Magnolia. Unlike those films though, this is a rather sweet tale, mostly upbeat, but by no means a mainstream comedy, despite the presence of Adam Sandler. It is extremely special though.
Adam Sandler’s always annoyed me a little, I’ve found his humour a little too wacky, with too much unsophisticated slapstick (The Wedding Singer excepted, though whilst rather sweet is no one’s idea of a classic film) but this is the first time that he’s really acted, really stretched himself, and finally proved that he does deserve to headline a film. He’s still doing his trademark angry young man character, but in Punch-Drunk Love, it’s a role with hidden depths, and one which explores why he is so filled with anger.
The film opens with an extremely odd scene, where Sandler is on the phone in a deserted warehouse that he partially uses as his office, and it's shot with a shaky handheld camera. It feels very stark, and what seems to be on a very low budget, with no soundtrack and is a marked contrast to the usual slickness of Anderson’s work. But don’t be unsettled by this, as as Sandler’s character, a small time businessman called Barry Egan, opens himself up to the outside world, the film becomes more and more beautiful. Whilst feeling a little plotless at first, the storyline soon unfolds, as Egan finds himself feeling particularly
By being able to coax a great performance out of one of the most annoying comedians ever to become famous, but also by making such a bizarre scenario all too believable, Anderson’s proved himself to be a truly great directors, and he also gets superb performances out of the rest of the cast too. Emily Watson clearly relishes playing a mostly normal lead role, as the female romantic love interest, and its about time someone cast her in this sort of role. The film really centres around the two of them, and only Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s role is of any interest – he’s fantastic as always, and to those who say he always plays a similar character - that of the shy, sleazy and lonely creep, should catch his performance here. When he and Sandler face off against each other at the end of the film the tension is almost unbearable, but it leads to a pleasantly surprising climax.
Bar the stark opening, and a few other scenes, the camerawork is stunning, with one particular scene (which is partially illustrated in the poster above) of true beauty which may well make you gasp. The soundtrack, as with all of Anderson’s films, is carefully use to maximise the effect of certain scenes too, even though much of it would be quite horrible to listen to on its own. Okay there are a few questions the film poses but fails to answer - why Sandler is so mixed up (and though it's suggested that growing up with seven sisters is why, surely it cant only be this) and what exactly Watson sees in him at first, but these are minor negative points, and overall this is a beautifully bizarre, unpredictable, sweet and upbeat film.
Alex Finch.
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