Rating: 
Summary: Or: Adam Sandler¿s attempt at being taken seriously
Review: I rented this movie with an open mind. Sure, Adam Sandler is responsible for some of the dumbest comedies of recent times; but he's also done some very good ones- THE WEDDING SINGER, ANGER MANAGEMENT & 50 FIRST DATES as a case in point. Then there's the Rob Schneider comedies Sandler co-produced. And admittedly THE WATERBOY & HAPPY GILMORE were stupid but still reasonably enjoyable- plus there was the added incentive of ogling Fairuza Balk and Julie Bowen.- here we have Emily Watson but ..... More on that later.
I also had high expectations for the movie when I saw Paul Thomas Anderson's name on the credits as director. BOOGIE NIGHTS was excellent and MAGNOLIA was very good (if half an hour overlong). Anderson managed to elicit a brilliant performance from Tom Cruise, and the climax with the plague of raining frogs ranks in my opinion as one of the coolest moments in recent cinema. Ingenious.
Now Anderson has given the world PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. What can I say, except when I subjected myself to PUNCH DRUNK LOVE I was STONE COLD SOBER.
Sandler plays Barry Egen; a naïve, shy, sheltered young man whose life is dominated by his seven highly dysfunctional sisters who would drive any guy mad. Even Ron Jeremy and Randy West would be struggling to crawl out from under them, giving a frenetic "time-out" sign. Folks, this is The Brady Bunch as envisaged by Robert Crumb, with artistic pretension substituting for the laughs.
At heart a kind, but lost and lonely soul, Barry has previously looked for companionship by calling phone sex hotlines - the women in question taking full advantage of his naivety and conning him into giving them his personal details and social security number, ending with Barry willingly allowing money to be extorted from him. Poor schmuck.
But one day while working his dead-end warehouse job Barry finds himself struck by Cupid's Arrow when he lays eyes on the lovely Lena Leonard (played by the incredibly cute Emily Watson, who sadly is utterly wasted here). It turns out for some reason that Lena likes him a lot too, but the socially awkward Barry doesn't know how to build on their attraction. In time they have their first date and slowly but surely; love blossoms.
Now, I'll admit that I don't mind the occasional love story if there's a good story or an interesting angle to it (e.g.: THE GRADUATE, SUMMER OF '42, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3- seriously!) but words almost fail me when it comes to describing this movie. The picture has a bright, chirpy look about it but its tone is very bland. It had the potential to be a good movie but Anderson's self indulgence swallows everything up and the result amounts to nothing more than 90 minutes of wasted time.
However, every cloud has a silver lining, however brief, and here is some amusing dialogue from the love scene:
Watson: "I wanna bite your cheek and chew on it coz it's so f***in' cute."
Sandler: "I'm looking at your face and I just wanna smash it- I just wanna f***in smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze, you're so pretty."
Watson: "I wanna chew your face and I wanna scoop out your eyes and I wanna eat them and suck on them."
Sandler: "OK" [pause] "This is funny." [Pause] "This is nice."
So bear than in mind next time you're on a date and you experience one of those awkward silences!
Rating: 
Summary: Love and change, the PT Anderson's way
Review: THE MOVIE What attracts me on PT Anderson's movies is that they're so rich in details that the more you see them, the more you discover. This adds a lot to the "re-view" level and pleasure experience. Not to mention his cinematography, use of music, actor's direction. Punch-Drunk Love is no exception.
This is a story about change, about opening our hearts, about taking control of our lives. About blue meeting red. And the positive consequences this meeting can produce.
Adam Sandler is a sad and frustrated guy whose life is not in his hands. He just keeps pushing it. He lives in a blue world, he's Mr Blues. Pay real attention to the colors in this movie. The movie starts blue, on a blue morning just before the sun start to shine. Hot colors represent desire, temptation to change, challenges.
The first sign his life is about to change comes as a shocking morning crash. Just like the frogs shook lives in magnolia. The second sign - a red cab drops a piano (not a piano, actually, but a keyboard instrument whose name I don't remember now). The third sign - RED HOT - Emily Watson, who's always wearing red until they meet for real (I won't tell it all, am just trying to help clarify some points to make PDL more enjoyable).
After these signs, it's left for him to do something, to choose between changing or not his status quo. By picking the piano, he opts for change. And when a truck scares him, he's advised that this won't be risk free, but he goes for it. And we have a beautiful movie everyone can take some lessons from.
Some people argue that there are times when the music goes over the dialogs, that it's "badly mixed". They didn't get it. Please note that every time this occurs, the dialogs are not important, and the music adds mood to what is - the interaction, the growing feelings between Adam and Emily, or Adam and his own life.
A movie I recommend that deals with this very much is A Man And A Woman, by Claude Lelouch. The dialogs are never as important as the relation, the reaction, the gestures, the looks between the "man" and the "woman". Simply beautiful and original - a history told by gestures, not only words. Pure cinema.
So, to enjoy this lovely movie, pay attention to the details, observe the colors, what and who is out-of-focus and listen to the music. Everything is very well orchestrated by a fabulous, talented, original and capable director (maybe storyteller fits better) - Paul Thomas Anderson. He sometimes defy our minds, and that's very good.
THE DVD
It's Superbit. But sometimes I feel magnolia has a better picture... Anyway, the transfer is very good. The sound - DTS - is very good, using all channels for music and effects very well. This is somewhat rare, specially for this kind of movie. It surprised me more than the Superbit image.
The second disc has one specially interesting extra, which adds to the comprehension of the movie - Blossoms And Blood. And, also, some traditional extras, like trailers, deleted scenes, more samples of the amazing art used and "scopitones". What's missing, in my opinion, is a featurette with PT Anderson, like there is on magnolia. Maybe he felt Blossoms And Blood would fulfill this. By the way, the image on this extra is very good.
If you like magnolia, has an open mind and heart and also conscience of yourself and your life, if you understand that not all things must have a reason why, you'll certainly enjoy Punch-Drunk Love. It is both a loving/touching story and a very good DVD, with a high "re-view" level.
If you believe movies must be more logical or coherent than life, this is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: i regret wasting these hours of my life on this crap
Review: This doesnt even deserve a star!! it sucked!! I highly DONT recommend it... If you are an old bitter person then you'll love it, but if youre a fun outgoing teen like myself, then u'll hate it.
I love Adam Sandler, so thats why I am truly truly disappointed in his bad choice!! And another thing, this movie never ends!! Its waaay too long!! I regret wasting my money on this!!
If you loved 50 first dates and other cool sandler movies, then this will disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: If you actually think
Review: that this is anything other than a complete waste of celluloid and time, I pity you, because you are an idiot.
Rating: 
Summary: Punch Drunk Knockout
Review: Adam Sandler is mesmerizing in this tour de force preformance as Barry Egan a lonesome, nervous businessman who becomes victim of a by a furnature store owner in Utah after he calls a sex hotline. While Barry deals with violent extortionists he falls in love with one of his sister's friends played by Emily Watson. Barry is also trying to make a big payoff with fat free pudding.
The music and camera work make you feel like you're inside the fidgity character's mind and the strange but potent chemistry between Sandler and Watson is more enchanting than any other romance I've seen on film. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the detestable furnature king torturing Barry. Hoffman is both intimadating and funny and Luis Guzman is utterly likable as Barry's sidekick at work. Barry's relationship with his sisters is also strange and uncomfortable to watch; his sisters are all brutal, nagging woman who don't seem to realize how hostile they act towards him.
P.T Anderson does it again in this haunting, black romance masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Punch-Drunk Love
Review: One who expects a traditional Sandler film is bound to be disappointed. But like all human characters, alive and fictional, people change, grow, and diversify. It was refreshing to see Sandler showing a more sensitive and dark side. When Robin Williams first did Awakenings, people felt he went too far, too fast, to the serious side. I feel both have proved that they are serious comedians, and serious characters. I recommend this movie 100%.
Rating:
Summary: ohhh,it's over
Review: I wanted this movie to go on further..
the chemistry was incredible between these two.
This is just a gem !
I want more of them together.
The background music is terrific,the colors are terrific...
everything.
Rating: 
Summary: Creates a state of mind although lacks a story
Review: I think my title says it all. If you've ever been stalked by someone (ala Cape Fear) you can understand one of the states this movie will offer. The other involves some oddities of mind from someone who has obvious childhood issues. The best part for me was when he fights back. What a shift of character when he had the love interest. The overwhelming fear was replaced by anger or courage, that was almost inspirational. There wasn't much story but the movie was more about Adam Sandler's character.
Rating:
Summary: + HARD EIGHT/BOOGIE NIGHTS/MAGNOLIA .....4 FOR 4
Review: 1) IT'S POEM ----IN COLOR, IN LA, IN HAWAII, IN UTAH, INSIDE THE LEAD CHARACTER'S MIND, ETC ETC 2) THIS FILM SLOWLY REVEALS THE DEFORMITY OF A MAN-CHILD, FOLLOWED BY SMALL AWAKENINGS OF THE SELF, LEARNING TO LIVE. 3) PERHAPS THE 'BEAUTY & THE BEAST' MYTH REALLY CAN BE ENDLESSLY RE-WORKED 4) A MUST FOR P.T. ANDERSON FANS 5) NOT 'BILLY MADISON, PART III'
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: What is there to say? Same as the movie...boring. Good for insomiacs..this will surely work. I lasted 15 minutes...see how you do.
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