Rating: 
Summary: Had me fidgeting in my seat
Review: Within the first few minutes of the show, I suspected that PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE might prove problematic. As when Adam Sandler's character Barry Egan is watching two vehicles drive towards him down a city street. One of them continues past him and off screen (never to be seen again) after being blown onto its side by an explosion coming from underneath. The second vehicle, a van, stops opposite Barry only long enough for someone inside to open the sliding door and deposit a harmonium - a midget organ - onto the pavement. Neither event is ever explained.Egan owns a business that sells promotional items - you know, the junk on which you can have your name or that of your firm imprinted. He apparently has no success meeting women and is harassed by seven sisters, who are either trying to fix him up with a nice girl or asking him if he's gay. His current obsession is to collect enough bar codes from containers of a major brand of pudding to qualify for a million frequent flyer miles. (He's discovered a loophole in the giveaway's rules that allows him to do this with minimal expense at a 99ยข store.) His life is further complicated when he makes his first call to a phone sex service, and is subsequently blackmailed by the service's operators. Furthermore, Barry harbors a repressed rage that occasionally reveals itself through violently destructive behavior, as when he tears apart a restaurant bathroom, or smashes a brother-in-law's sliding glass doors. And what's with that edgy, bright blue suit he wears from the first scene to the last? Not since MULHOLLAND DRIVE have I seen a film so bizarre and unpredictable as PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. I enjoyed the former because I thought I perceived the message it was trying to convey. (I must have been more mellow that evening.) The latter just left me fidgeting in my seat, especially during the first third or so when the music(?) soundtrack was barely more than a discordant cacophony of sounds, produced by the All-Chimpanzee band, that set my teeth on edge. My wife liked the movie very much, saying the message was that love can better a person. (Typical female viewpoint!) Well, maybe, if you squint real hard. In this case, Barry is perhaps changed by his love for Lena (Emily Watson), one of his sister's friends. Not only is Lena attracted to him for some reason that eluded me, but she herself remained a cipher, although there were hints of mental hairline fractures that perhaps made her Barry's perfect match. (My guess is that the two were more apt to join into a single, cataclysmic, mutually assisted meltdown.) PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is certainly "different", and there are some good visuals. However, call me an old fuddyduddy if you will, but I found the film, peopled with characters that are unattractive at worst and indifferent at best, ultimately unentertaining - if not downright irritating.
Rating: 
Summary: Stylish repackaging of an old sentiment
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson is a wonderful artist, and his new film, populated by some fine performances from Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, is as beautiful as it is unconventional. Social misfit Barry Eagan gives Adam Sandler a character with a little more depth to explore: an arrested child in a man's body, still getting picked on by his older sisters, and who is presenting with a serious anger management problem. (On a date, he casually excuses himself from the table and completely destroys the men's room.) Watson is a woman who, perhaps mysteriously, finds him irresistible. Much of the film's hallucinogenic quality has to do with remarkable events that take place, without any consequences. In one moment, this poor entrepreneur is crestfallen because he has had $500 stolen from him; the next, he is flying to Hawaii on a whim. A car accident takes place before our eyes, but a short time later, the wreck is gone and it is never mentioned again. Eagan loses his temper and beats someone hard enough to seriously injure or even kill him - but this, too, just disappears without consequence. Like a dream. Despite the unconventional form, the offbeat characters and eccentric, dark humor of the film, it boils down to an old Hollywood fairy tale: love conquering all (even mental illness). Has love helped Eagan get over some hump, made him stronger? Well, we see him learn how to punch people instead of walls, and to scream curses at them. As far as a dramatic arc goes, it's a bit anemic. And we are left to worry about this very nice, intelligent woman embracing a man who appears to be dangerously unstable.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother
Review: The film is, at best, a terrible waste of Emily Watson's talents.
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent Quirky Psychotic Vio-love!!
Review: This movie was, in two words, entirely unique. They're promoting it as a 'romantic comedy' -- because there's no category called 'psychotic affair with undertones of love and violent outbursts'. Much like Magnolia (the director's previous film), this is unlike any film you've ever seen. Adam Sandler does an excellent job of playing an unremarkable plunger salesman -- Barry Egan. There is nothing special about this guy. He has the odd phobia, and is a little paranoid and superstitious, but is generally an all-around nice guy... if a little temperamental. An average American. He is also painfully lonely; so much so, in fact, that one day he calls a 1-800 sex line just so he can talk to someone... The soundtrack & audio in the film are integral to the experience of it, which is completely unnerving.
It definitely arouses feelings in the audience -- mostly of unease, and awkwardness... and I laughed many times because of the absurdity of the situations -- all of which were completely intentional on the director's part (Paul Thomas Anderson). Amazing, unique film.
It is NOT what you're expecting... no matter what.
Rating:
Summary: Career highs for PTA and Sandler
Review: Yknow the best thing about this movie? It's under 2 hours long. Seems a weird thing to say about a film that you enjoyed every single minute of, but in an era when Carrot Top seems barely able to make a filmic statement in less than 2 and a half hours, it's nice to see someone make a film that's so entertaining, so intellectually stimulating without making your backside fall asleep from remaining in one place so long. This, of course, is not the chief reason to love this film. That would be the teaming of Anderson and Sandler (not to diminish any of the great supporting performances). Anderson probes into the darkside of Sandler's nice chucklehead persona without getting overbearing about it. And Sandler stretches without completely abandoning his original shtick. I don't get people who say this is a 180 degree turn for Sandler. It's really just a natural extension, brought to light be a director accomplished enough to handle him. As for Anderson, this time he works on a canvas much smaller than in Boogie Nights and Magnolia, and proves himself to be an expert miniaturist. Never has a story of an essentially alright guy who struggles daily to not go essentially postal been more timely. Punch-Drunk Love is a phenomenal piece of art about modern living and the power that love has over it.
Rating:
Summary: Such a promising beginning...
Review: Going in to this picture, I had no specific baggage around Adam Sandler; I figured if PT Anderson could get Tom Cruise to give a credible performance, as he did in Magnolia, he might get Sandler up to Laurence Olivier speed. Actually, I thought Sandler was game. The first third of the movie is quite effective. A harmonium appears out of nowhere. There's a scene at a party (given by the Sandler character's "seven sisters"--a pun of some kind?) where he has a breakdown and is very affecting. Ditto a scene in which Sandler talks to a phone-sex gal. Sandler's seven sisters nag him, and we see that he is given to outbursts of violence. All of this is presented in the visually stunning way Anderson usually works, and it has magnificent potential. When the possibility of love presents itself, Sandler's character begins to change. He stands up to his sisters, and to the phone-sex operator, who's trying to extort money from him. This part of the film seemed unconvincing to me. Poor Emily Watson is given virtually no motivation for loving the protagonist. Many elements in the first half of the film--Sandler's penchant for collecting pudding, for example, his conflict with his sisters, his rages, and the harmonium--are never fully incorporated into the plot. I suppose the film is supposed to be a testament to the transformative power of love, but I, for one, wished it had done so by similarly transforming its original elements, instead of forsaking them. Why didn't someone play that darn harmonium?
Rating: 
Summary: I was worried for no reason!!! (Small spoilers in review)
Review: When I first heard about this movie, I thought... Adam Sandler, can he do this kind of part? I was not disappointed! I started to wonder if PTA picked him because of his ability to show rage or the fact that he can play some very different types of characters. Punch Drunk Love starts out with Barry Egan, a man who runs his own business, and basically has no life. He has seven sisters who still terrorize him, constantly reminding him of stupid things he had done as a child and calling him names. One night, he calls a phone sex line, possibly because he was lonely and wanted someone to talk to. All of a sudden, his life is not just about manufacturing plungers for Las Vegas hotels! One of his sisters introduces him to a girl named Lena, played by Emily Watson. Barry is a pretty strange guy, but Lena seems to find it attractive. He stumbles upon a marketing flaw within Healthy Choice foods and frequent flyer miles. (Apparently, something like this really happened... inspired by a TIME article) Next, he is on a mission, buying pudding at every turn. One might say that there is not a whole lot going on with this movie, but I would disagree. I don't think that the story was the strongest part of this film, but I think that the humor kept me going, wondering what was going to be said or done next. I laughed out loud in the theater and that doesn't happen very often. If you really like offbeat characters and unpredictable humor, this movie is probably for you. Not your typical romantic comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Bliss
Review: Without getting into the plot of the film, it's best to NOT to find out anything about it before going to see it. You will be rewarded with one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences of your lifetime. Punch Drunk Love is beautiful, emotional, and unsettling. It's perfect from the very first shot to the very last. Gorgeous long shots, haunting score, brilliant color schemes, pitch-perfect acting by everyone (especially Adam Sandler and the always lovely Emily Watson), and so much more. There is one long scene with the song He Needs Me playing and that is one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced. I adore Paul Thomas Anderson's two previous sprawling but very uneven epics of lost souls - Boogie Nights and Magnolia and I'm fully confident to say that Punch Drunk Love is his best work, his masterpiece. I exited the cinema totally drunk with this beautiful and unique vision of madness, loneliness and most of all, love.
Rating:
Summary: did he make this movie on a dare?
Review: Punch Drunk Love is the latest offering featuring Adam Sandler. We all know Sandler as the stupid goofy comic from The Waterboy, Happy Gilmore, etc. But-- Punch Drunk Love is also the latest offering from Paul Thomas Anderson, the brash young stylist behind movies like Boogie Nights and Magnolia. What results? An Adam Sandler art film, almost. Well, an art film AROUND Adam Sandler; that's more like it. Throw together Emily Watson, Adam Sandler, phone sex, toilet supplies, hired thugs, buying mass quantities of pudding, highly annoying sisters, two very unhappy people, a load of suppressed rage, and a spontaneous trip to Hawaii, and what do you get? PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Sandler plays a toilet-supply entrepreneur who has always been the dim bulb in the family. He finds a harmonium. He doesn't date, and he has no basis for believing that Emily Watson is "the one" for him, yet he falls in love with her. Watson's acting style is unnervingly real; it is just the opposite of what the audience expects from Sandler. It's hard to know what to make of the casting of the two lead roles. There are few moments of chemistry between the two, and, for better or worse, I think that's what the director envisioned. She's like photorealism; he's like a cartoon. Put them together-- is it genius, or is it a cheap gag? It's hard to say. Sandler's not the normal Sandler character-- he turns his manic hyperactivity down a few notches. And Anderson is not quite the normal Paul Thomas Anderson: instead of giving us 10 or 20 characters over a sprawling 2.5 hour movie, he serves up just a few characters, over 90 minutes. This results in a more satisfying movie for all, an enterprise more comedic than dramatic. The film is, though, a dark or at least offbeat comedy. Sandler's character buys loads and loads of pudding during a special promotion, so he can accumulate coupons for frequent flyer miles. He sells toilet items--a strange job if ever there was one. All his overbearing sisters do is heckle him and worry about him, and he surely has no idea where to take the relationship with Watson's character. Story alone could not carry this film, so there exists a series of sight gags and quirky motifs. It's hard to know whether Anderson was trying to be some sort of visionary moldbreaker, or he realized that the other actors were just working around Sandler, and he had to throw some goofball stuff into the mix to keep people interested. At one point, a character sings a song from the Robert Altman film Popeye. (I actually wish I had not recognized the song; the reference instantly became overly cute) At another time, Anderson goes fishing for laughs by having a character unexpectedly tumble off his chair. It saves a scene which otherwise goes nowhere. Who knows what P.T. Anderson had in mind. I admire him for delivering such an oddball movie. It's not for Adam Sandler fans, and it's not for the director's fans, really. It's unusual enough and idiosyncratic; all would agree. I think it will find an audience over the years, and maybe even become a cult classic. For now, though, Punch Drunk Love is just making me wish Anderson had made the next great step after Magnolia, rather than cutely tossing out a flick just to defy expectations. ken32
Rating:
Summary: A Film About People By a Guy Who Doesn't Know People.
Review: Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson's fourth film is a reworking of Amelie for men instead of women. Yes, both films are about lonely, quirky, and socially neurotic people, but Amelie, ultimately, is a far more masterful interpretation of such a person than is this. Punch-Drunk Love's Barry Eagan is an idiosyncratic and quiet guy, but, despite what most might say, was not developed or humanized enough for the viewer to really feel for him or even understand him. Though he lets people walk all over him, this in itself doesn't mean he is very nice or humanistic: he is unable to admit anything about himself and lies to everyone he meets [including the girl he loves] so no one will know how crazy he is. And, instead of dealing with his problems rationally and intelligently, he threatens his enemies with his brute strength. Why is he like this? Well, the film would have you believe his incessant secrecy and catastrophic blow-ups are due to his mean sisters' taunting him [calling him "gay boy"--so scarring!], but the evil sisters are too overdrawn and over-villainized to feasibly accept full responsibility for Barry's social idiocy. In fact, they are so badly portrayed and inhuman that it is surprising that he even becomes exasperated with their antics at all--that is, you would think that after being around them his whole life he would have safeguarded himself against them and, by thirty, would unresponsively witness and endure through their brutality with a knowing indifference. Instead, he gets frightfully nasty [worse than they are]--smashing up windows and beating people with crowbars. Yeah, that is what happens when someone is mistreated their whole life. And the viewers disliking your hero, Paul Thomas Anderson, is what happens when you don't know people at all [but think you do]. Moving on, everyone raves about Sandler's acting in this film, but really he exaggerates and overplays his rage--most of the time when he recites his angry lines, one gets the feeling that his fury stems from something completely artificial. The film would have been better if Barry's character were smarter and could ward off the bad guys with witty and sharp dialogue, as opposed to screaming ridiculous warnings in an overly loud voice. However, the weak writing can only be to blame for the poor acting. Anderson's script-writing abilities are certainly not artistically paralleled with his fantastic directing: he proves completely unable to wrap up the film or add meaning or magnetism to his protagonist--that's a major no no, right? And, at times, he even seems to incorporate quirk for the sake of quirk--the harmonium thrown out of a cab directly after the SUV accident, no? What does that mean? Nothing. That's just the director trying to add substance and mystery to a film that has little. Emily Watson's character is nice, and it is sad that the only reason that Barry seems to like her is because she is the first girl willing to put up with his crap and actually fights for his attention despite his anti-charisma. Noting Barry's uncontrollable rage issue, I feel a little scared for her when and if she ever pisses him off. It's nice that Barry has to channel his anger into standing up for himself and protecting his girlfriend in the end, but if I were that guy at the mattress store--yet another overdone character--I definitely would have called his bluff: is Anderson so delusional as to believe that a professional conman would just surrender to a guy who walks off the street and screams a few loaded words at him? Needless to say, the ending doesn't really work. In conclusion, Punch-Drunk Love is well directed, but, unfortunately, its mediocre-to-poor writing, acting, and horrendous character studies kill it, throw it in a coffin, and by the end, have buried it six feet under.
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