Punch-Drunk Love

2002 romantic comedy, P.T. Anderson style

Rating: 17/20 (Dylan: 14/20)

Plot: A guy with a blue suit and a business that makes novelty toilet plungers witnesses a car accident, has a harmonium delivered to him, and meets a new friend all in the same morning. It's a lot for the guy to handle since he just wants to focus on how to take advantage of a Healthy Choice foods promotion to get frequent flyer miles. The secret--pudding cups. Meanwhile, he gets in a little trouble after calling a phone sex line. The world's just not an easy place for poor Barry.

I love this movie, and it's not just because it made me change my mind about Adam Sandler. In fact, I'm not even sure that's a good thing. He's good in this though, and the only scene I'd pitch in the whole Sandler-heavy movie (he might be in every single scene) is one where he breaks character and does a little dance in a supermarket. This one caught me by surprise back in '02, and I actually watched it three times in a two-week period because I had to show it to people. Great cast. Emily Watson's pulls off normal-but-with-an-barely-perceivable-not-quite-right so well, and Philip Seymour Hoffmann is great in the limited screen time he gets. Jon Brion's score is an adventurous harmoniumicious affair, and he uses mutant pop sounds to perfectly parallel what must be going on in Barry's head. Most of all, I think this movie's really funny. I like my comedies, especially my romantic ones, to have a generous helping of quirk and discomfort, and this one's got plenty of both. I'm not sure how realistic Barry's autism or borderline personality disorder is, but I sure enjoy laughing at it! And sure, it's nice to watch the guy overcome whatever issues he has to get the girl in the end. The story's simple but a sprinkling of oddities distract from a lot of Anderson's genius. Shots are perfectly framed, and there are some really cool extended shots with this amazing character choreography. Anderson set out to make a much simpler and shorter and easier to swallow movie than the opus that is Magnolia or even Boogie Nights, but that doesn't mean he got lazy with this one. Is Paul Thomas Anderson, by the way, America's best contemporary director? I'm asking that question without thinking about it. Discuss.

Dylan had to do a psychology project where he watched a movie with a mentally-ill character. I picked this for him. We almost watched the equally-hilarious Awakenings though because the scenes where the patients catch the tennis balls make me laugh uncontrollably. They're also really fun to imitate.