Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Wonderful
It is beyond frustrating to listen to people talk about this movie as if they know what PTA's intentions were, or as if they secretly unlocked the mystery of the movie and the mystery of Sandler's and Watson's characters. When we watch this movie, we are given an outsiders view of the characters and their motives. We have no idea why Sandler is crazed and breaks his sister's husband's windows. Nor do we understand why Watson enjoys Sandler's company and pretty much falls in love with him. All of PTA's films have this theme and this constant mystery behind each character's relationship with one another. In Boogie Nights, Julliane Moore's character falls in love with Wahlberg almost immediately, without any reason or any justification. This is how the world of PTA works.

I think Punch Drunk love is a unique and truly sophisticated movie. Yes, it is a character study and the plot is only the tail, and the dog is the character, but the visuals are undeniably the part of the movie that really stand out to me. The ambiguity of the artwork that is shown between scenes almost alludes to blotched spots that a psychiatrist asks his/her patients to interpret during a therapy sessions. PTA is almost acting as a psychiatrist to the viewer, making us interpret what this whole movie really means. Additionally, PTA always does a fantastic job making the action in scenes come out in quick and LOUD spurts. The beginning of this movie is slow and very quiet, almost tip-toeing around, and then all of a sudden...BOOM, a car comes out from no where and flips over, and then the Harmonium is abandoned. It creates a huge amount of tension for the viewer, almost making us anticipate that something horrible/exciting/unforeseeable is going to happen very soon.

Additionally, PTA's use of color is phenomenal. The way he makes the colors brighter than they really should be, making some scenes glare as if they are not in focus, furthers this theme of disorder and ambiguity.

All in all, I think people should give this movie a shot. It is an experience and is unlike any movie that is out there, and very different from PTA's other movies. I would say, however, that the movie that is most similar to Punch Drunk Love is There Will Be Blood. The love theme is not present, obviously, but the pace, the visual beauty and the character development being the central theme is the same as Punch Drunk Love. DDL and Sandler both run the show in both movies, and both do an excellent job keeping the viewer intrigued.

5 Stars!

Quirkiness Abound
Paul Thomas Anderson continues to impress me with his films. This is in stark contrast to his three prior films ([[ASIN:B00000K3D3 Hard Eight (Special Edition)]], [[ASIN:B00004TQF7 Boogie Nights (New Line Platinum Series)]], [[ASIN:B00003CWTI Magnolia (New Line Platinum Series)]]). This film only features two main characters. Adam Sandler does a wonderful job playing the neurotic Barry.

It's a love story, in one of the most unconventional ways. Barry almost won't let himself love. ANd it's a wonderful film watching him actually get there.

The two disc set includes scopitones, artwork, deleted scenes, and a few other things. It's quite worth a watch.

Highly recommended.

Quirkiness Abound
Paul Thomas Anderson continues to impress me with his films. This is in stark contrast to his three prior films ([[ASIN:B00000K3D3 Hard Eight (Special Edition)]], [[ASIN:B00004TQF7 Boogie Nights (New Line Platinum Series)]], [[ASIN:B00003CWTI Magnolia (New Line Platinum Series)]]). This film only features two main characters. Adam Sandler does a wonderful job playing the neurotic Barry.

It's a love story, in one of the most unconventional ways. Barry almost won't let himself love. ANd it's a wonderful film watching him actually get there.

The two disc set includes scopitones, artwork, deleted scenes, and a few other things. It's quite worth a watch.

Highly recommended.