No Punchline to Punch-Drunk
This Time Sandler Isn't So Funny

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has been quoted as saying that Punch-Drunk Love is an Adam Sandler film for art-houses. This director's revisioning (to borrow a phrase from Tim Burton) of Sandler's comedic style shows just how difficult comedy can be. Sandler, who often plays the innocent man-child, recreates his character type with a darker, more serious edge. The result is a film that explores the psychology of Sandler more than his comedy.

Punch-Drunk Love isn't so much a story as a series of moments woven together in a strange tapestry. Sandler plays Barry, a wholesale supplier of (among other things) plungers. Barry thinks he has stumbled onto a big loophole in a giveaway involving Healthy Choice foods and frequent flyer miles. By his calculations, if he invests $3,000 in pudding, he should be able to redeem the proofs-of-purchase for a million frequent flyer miles.

The key to the story, however, is Lena (Emily Watson). This quirky woman appears to Barry one morning and asks him to watch her car until the repair shop next door opens. It later becomes apparent that one of his sisters is trying to set him up with her. Despite his oddball nature (perhaps because of it), she finds herself drawn to him. Of course, there's a catch. She travels constantly in her job. See the connection to the pudding, yet?

Phones play a big part of the story, too. The film begins with Barry on the phone, trying to get clarification of the rules for the frequent flyer miles redemption. His sisters all call him at work, harassing him about attending a party. Later, lonely and upset, he calls a phone-sex line and soon finds himself the victim of an extortion scam. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Anderson is trying to tell us something about communication in our modern era. Only when distanced in our communication can we say what we truly feel.

Of course, Anderson is known for making films that overflow with style. His films Boogie Nights and Magnolia rely heavily on cinematography and musical soundtracks. Punch-Drunk Love is no exception. There are some scenes that are absolutely breathtaking in their simplicity. Colors swirl across the screen like paint on an Impressionist's canvas. My big complaint is that the music often oppresses the scene rather than complimenting it.

On the whole, Punch-Drunk Love is unsatisfying It is neither the Sandler comedy fans have come to expect, nor is it the complex study of character that fans of P.T. Anderson admire. In fact, with the exception of Barry and Lena, the characters in this film are two-dimensional and uninteresting. Even Anderson regular Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in only a marginal performance.

This film tries too hard to be something it is not. Despite what Anderson said, it is neither an Adam Sandler film nor an art-house film.

MY RATING: 4 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 94 min.