October 18, 2002

By Veronica Mixon

Punch-drunk Love is an odd film project for both director Paul Thomas Anderson and star Adam Sandler. While Anderson usually focuses on sad, lonely people, he rarely bothers with ordinary guys who simply want to be loved by an ordinary woman. Instead, Anderson likes to delve into the seedy side of life that attracts people who don't want to be bored or stuck in every day life.

The ordinary day in the life of sad sack, Barry (Sandler), the owner of a warehouse filled with bits and pieces, starts off so quietly that you almost think you're watching a reality show. Barry spends long hours at a desk on the telephone looking for opportunities (and mistakes) from coupons and sales items. His latest find is a mistake by a company offering free frequent flyer miles and he's sure that won't have to buy another airline ticket - ever! Of course, it would be wonderful if Barry had some place to go.

One morning, while waiting for his staff to arrive, Barry meets a pretty girl, Lena (Emily Watson Red Dragon) who is dropping off her car at the garage next door. It seems she's friends with one of his seven sisters and has decided to check him out. When he realizes what's happening, he's unnerved despite the fact that the night before, Barry had called a sex hotline. He wants to meet someone but he's socially inept and his sisters are not sympathetic. They tease him endlessly. When he confides in one of his brother-in-laws about his loneliness and tears, the man who is a therapist betrays him to the cruel sisters.

So, Barry's pleasantly surprised when the fragile Lena turns out to be a sweet, wonderful person who is positively interested in him. Now his problem is not his loneliness but the blackmailing voice on the other end of his telephone at home and at work. The woman from the sex hotline wants money and her sleazy boss (Philip Seymour Hoffman Magnolia, Bogie Nights) dispatches four mean brothers from another state to beat him into submission.

It's nice that Adam Sandler has bravely stepped out of his comfortable, cozy comic world filled with comedians who support each other in various films. After his remarkable performance a few years ago in The Wedding Singer, you know that there is an actor buried deep in all that male anger and bravado displayed in his last few films. Watching him as he steps toward Lena and stands up to the bullies when she's threatened is wonderfully human.

There isn't an ounce of smugness and director Anderson has managed to add a bit of tenderness in the film. He usually doesn't allow his characters the opportunity to receive tenderness. The world that an Anderson character inhibits(Hard Eight, Magnolia, Boogie Nights) is dirty, mean-spirited and untrustworthy.

Punch-drunk Love is a quiet, sweet, insane little romance with extraordinary performances by both Emily Watson and Adam Sandler.