Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

Adam Sandler .... Barry Egan
Emily Watson .... Lena Leonard
Philip Seymour Hoffman .... Dean Trumbell
Luis Guzmán .... Lance
Mary Lynn Rajskub .... Elizabeth
Lisa Spector .... Susan
Julie Hermelin .... Kathleen
Karen Hermelin .... Anna
Hazel Mailloux .... Rhonda
Nicole Gelbard .... Nicole
Mia Weinberg .... Gilda
David Stevens .... David
Jimmy Stevens .... Jim
Nathan Stevens .... Nate
Mike D. Stevens .... Mike D.
Rico Bueno .... Rico
Salvador Curiel .... Sal
Jorge Barahona .... Jorge
Ernesto Quintero .... Ernesto
Larry Ring .... Steve/Brother-in-Law
Kerry Gelbard .... Richard / Brother-in-Law

Produced by
Paul Thomas Anderson .... producer
Daniel P. Collins .... associate producer
Daniel Lupi .... producer
Joanne Sellar .... producer

Original Music by Jon Brion
Cinematography by Robert Elswit
Film Editing by Leslie Jones

MPAA: Rated R for strong language including a scene of sexual dialogue.
Runtime: 89 min / France:90 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

Fans of typical “Adam Sandler” films may not get Punch-Drunk Love, P.T. Anderson’s (Magnolia) new film. Most of his fans are used to him blowing up for no reason throughout his movies—here Anderson has given him reason. Sandler’s characters usually have no depth; he often plays morons prone to fits of rage and juvenile pranks. Okay, maybe a couple of his characters have had a little depth, and several of those past Sandler characters admittedly have made me laugh. But here Sandler plays a complex character (Barry Egan) who is, perhaps, as lonely and isolated as Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle.

Whether he is alone or with others he always appears isolated, always lonely. Barry comes across as an affable sort, but there is a lot going on beneath his friendly exterior. We get a glimpse of why he is prone to fits of rage when we see the way his seven sisters treat him at a birthday party. It is evident that he has endured much emotional abuse, whether intentional or unintentional. Before the party, each of his sisters calls him at work to ask if he will be attending, making sure he is not going to stay home, or “wus-out.” One of his sisters even shows up at his office/warehouse, asking him if he’d like to meet a friend from work who she was thinking of inviting. He then says he’s not sure he’ll be there because he has to renew his gym membership.

The friend ends up being a British woman, Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), he met earlier that morning—she dropped her car off at the auto-body shop next to his warehouse. She’s not at the party, where Barry ends up breaking down and smashing several windows after his sisters remind him of a childhood incident where they repeatedly called him “gay boy” and he threw a hammer through a glass door. After this incident he asks one of his sister’s husbands, a dentist, if he knows any other doctors who could possibly help him. “Like a psychiatrist?” he asks. Barry shares that he doesn’t always like himself and that he sometimes cries for no reason… he then begins sobbing.

Sandler is so impressive as Barry. We sympathize with him throughout. When he calls a phone sex line we understand that he’s by no means a pervert, he just needs someone to talk to. Like Bickle (who takes a date to see a pornographic movie in Taxi Driver) Barry does not know how to relate to women, or most people for that matter, because he’s so tortured. And although he has these difficulties, he’s able to develop a relationship with Lena; it begins after she asks him if he’d like to come to dinner with her when she returns to the auto-body to pick up her car.

Punch-Drunk Love is a truly original film. P. T. Anderson says, “It’s like an art-house Adam Sandler movie.” It uses only natural lighting which has an interesting effect, lending to the mood of each scene. Adam Sandler is gifted when it comes to making people laugh, but here with Anderson’s script and direction he’s able to do so much more. When he cries, we want to cry with him; when he freaks out, we feel his frustration; during his moments of joy, we too feel blissful. Sandler causes us to really empathize with Barry Egan.

I do not want to give much of the plot away, I feel like I’ve shared too much already. I think the less you know going into this film the better your experience will be. I will mention, however, that love does not completely transform Sandler’s Barry, but it empowers him, and gives him a sense of purpose. I was talking with my mother about the film and she mentioned something she heard a critic say that I really like: the critic said that she went into this film expecting nothing and she got everything. I didn’t go expecting nothing, but this film really does have everything.

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