Friday 20 January 2012

Punch-Drunk Love

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Year:2002
Country of origin:USA
Director:Paul Thomas Anderson
Genre:Bizarre romantic comedy
Starring:Adam Sandler, Emily Watson
Rating:5/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272338/
Tagline:No tagline
Favourite line:Barry: "I'm lookin' at your face and I just wanna smash it. I just wanna fuckin' smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze it. You're so pretty." Lena: "I want to chew your face, and I want to scoop out your eyes and I want to eat them and chew them and suck on them."

Let me make something very clear right from the outset - I frakkin' well hate romantic comedies. As far as I am concerned, they are fodder for mentally challenged imbeciles. You know who I'm talking about.
The kind of fucknuts that actually get dressed up to go to the cinema.
Yeah, dressed up.
To sit in a dark room for two hours.
And then I watched Punch-Drunk Love.
And why, you may ask, did you watch a Rom-Com when clearly you deplore them?
And further, why in the name of Christ's gonads have you given it top marks?
Three words: Paul Thomas Anderson.
I've been an admirer of his outpourings for some time now, Magnolia being the standout for me so far, so anything he has a hand in I feel is worth the effort of watching. So what's it about?

Adam Sandler plays a loner called Barry Egan, bored, neurotic, vaguely autistic and with a touch of the old OCD. One of his sisters introduces him to a rather attractive young lady who has taken a bit of a shine to him, and before he knows it they are in the midst of an intense, though at times strained relationship.
Sounds shit, doesn't it?
But there's more.
Barry places a call to a sex phone line, reluctantly passes along his credit card details, and winds up being blackmailed and ultimately physically threatened into handing over a significant amount of wedge. Barry's not happy about this, and sets about collecting his money, by any means necessary.
Still no good?

Well, judging from the plot I would agree with you but, what sets this head and shoulders above other such fare is the direction. Amazing is the word you are looking for. That Anderson manages to convey such a sense of loneliness in a single shot, the first shot of the movie, says all you need to know about this guys talent: Sandler, sitting alone at a desk in a bare room. It simply takes the breath away and, in an instant, you know the character you are watching is, in psychotherapy terms, 'not a happy bunny'.
Oddball from the word go - not wacky (shudder), just plain weird - this is a wonderfully different spin on a tried and tested formula.
Loved it.

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