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72%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #1,084
...out of 20,319 movies
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Barry Egan runs his own company, is continually hounded by his seven sisters, and every now and then gets a tiny bit violent. One odd morning a harmonium first appears in the street then a striking young lady asks for his help with her car. She re-appears a few days later and there seems to be a spark between them, but can they possibly cut through his seemingly over-complicated life and his somewhat unusual interpersonal skills?
--IMDb
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This film was billed as 'Adam Sandler's first dramatic role'. Paul Thomas Anderson wrote the character with Sandler in mind, which is obvious throughout the entire film. The film revolves around a very normal guy with some anger problems who lives a very boring and mundane life...that is, until a harmonium lands at his feet and he meets a beautiful woman, played by Emily Watson. Then his life turns into an odd romantic journey that takes him everywhere, including a confrontation with a seedy Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Contrary to what the publicity for this film would have had you believe, this is not such a huge departure for Adam Sandler. He's doing a lot of the same old stuff he has always done. Like every other director who has worked with Sandler, P.T. Anderson is relying on Sandler's ability to turn the anger on at the drop of a hat, and he does so here. P.T. Anderson is also relying on Sandler's quiet charm, which is something else he has always used in films. Sandler is not a very assertive person and he can play quiet and slow quite nicely, most recently see in his performance in "Reign Over Me", a film I absolutely loved.
I have always been a huge fan of P.T. Anderson's work and "Magnolia" is one of my Top Ten films ever made, but there was just something a little pretentious about "Punch-Drunk Love". Anderson seemed as if he was trying to be artsy for the sake of being artsy, as if that was the only way to pull off a film like this starring Adam Sandler. I guess he thought people wouldn't take Sandler seriously if it didn't have 'arthouse' written all over it. But, the film is intentionally too slow and that does not work for many reasons. It is very boring in parts and doesn't really flow together like most of Anderson's films.
In a way, this film reminded me of "Love Liza", which starred Philip Seymour Hoffman as a man dealing with the suicide of his wife and his newfound love of model airplanes. "Punch-Drunk Love" is that film, minus the wife and swapping model airplanes for the harmonium. What I loved most about this film was the gentle sweetness with which the relationship was played between Sandler and Watson. Had the tempo been a little faster, I might have enjoyed it a bit more. Not a bad movie, but an unsuccessful attempt at an arthouse romantic comedy. 6.5/10.
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#1:
Tristan
- added April 9, 2007 at 6:58pm
Weird, I thought you would have liked this one.
Especially after saying you liked Love Liza and
PTA's work in general. I really loved this movie.
For the music,for the story, for the acting, and
for how visually brilliant it was. I know he went
slightly over the top in that department, but
regardless, I really connected with Sandler's
character, and I can keep watching it again and
again. 9/10
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#2:
grain of sand
- added April 11, 2007 at 1:26am
this is my favorite adam sandler movie, that's not
saying much.. but I loved this.
the
outbursts are awesome.
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#3:
Kari Byron's Sex Cyborg
- added April 19, 2007 at 8:37am
Ditto all The Fecal Kid said.
I love that
scene in the warehouse when one of Barry's sisters
introduces Lena to him and the music just hecticly
builds up.
Actually, I love a bunch of
scenes. Seriously though... I love every
scene.
9.7/10
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#4:
Shakes
- added January 22, 2009 at 12:29pm
What a great movie. A true work of cinematic art.
I love the beginning with the psychedelic colors.
Anyway, Sandler delivers a unique oddball
character that is somehow comical and surprisingly
believable. Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Mattress
Man.. haha. i loved that. and Luis Guzman.. as
Sandler's coworker. Hell yeah 9/10
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