Punch-Drunk Love: Totally changed my opinion of Adam Sandler

★★★★--Saw this at the IU Cinema on Valentine’s Day, a perfect date night. Maybe my favorite Adam Sandler movie, depending on the day. Either that or Uncut Gems or Jay Kelly. This, however, was the one that was most interesting. For people that weren’t alive or paying attention back in 2002, it’s hard to stress the degree to which Adam Sandler’s performance was shocking. I’ve walked out of multiple Sandler movies. One, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I actually asked for my money back. Sandler was thought of as an unhinged physical comedian. That was his schtick and that’s all we got for the decade from Airheads up to this. Extremely funny, but niche and not serious. PDL plays to his physical gifts and lets him tone it down. That is until his character explodes, which happens multiple times throughout the film. 

My rubric is one star each for acting/casting, story, creativity, and signature/style. I then have one for vibe. I’m a pretty easy grader. No half star bullshit. Fucking commit. This is four stars because the story is a bit thin and doesn’t do a great job of making you believe that someone could be instantly in love with Sandler’s character, Barry Egan, despite his many red flags. Cast and characters are amazing though. 
 
Philip Seymour Hoffman is incredible. One of his best smaller roles as a wannabe tough guy. He talks big on the phone and when people are walking away, but when confronted, he doesn't want any part of that. When him and his cronies try extorting Barry for calling a phone sex line, Barry wants them to lay off. Hoffman's character goes apocalyptic. "SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! Shut up; will you SHUTUP SHUTUP! SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUTUP... SHUTUP! NOW!" he says. It's over the top but amazing. Dude steals every scene. Emily Watson is fine as the love interest. Luis Guzmán is always underrated. And Gayle "The Snail", aka Mary Lynn Rajskub, is great as Barry's overprotective, only slightly less neurotic sister. 
 

Only other person I'll mention is Robert Smigel, who plays Barry's dentist brother-in-law. In my mind he is a comedic genius. He's the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, was a long-time Saturday Night Live writer, and was the mind behind SNL's "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts. If you haven't seen those, they are pretty incredible. They include classics like the crowd-pleasing The Ambiguously Gay Duo, The Michael Jackson Show which probably wouldn't fly today, and my personal favorite The All-New Adventures of Mr. T ("I need work, fool!"). In addition, he co-wrote, mostly with Sandler (who also starred), Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2 (which I love), and Leo... And the unfortunate You Don't Mess with the Zohan. It's also worth mentioning his work on the brilliant The Dana Carvey Show, a magical, incredibly funny show that kicked off the careers of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. It was insanely controversial, but amazing, and Smigel was a big part of its "success". It only last about a month because all the drama surrounding it. 
 

It’s mid-tier Paul Thomas Anderson, but that means it is just fantastic instead of an absolute classic. In my mind, One Battle After Another and There Will Be Blood are battling it out with Zodiac, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood as the greatest film of the century. The Master, Licorice Pizza, Inherent Vice, and Phantom Threadare all five star movies for me. Below those I have Punch-Drunk Love just below those incredible films. I’d rate that and PTA’s previous two, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, as four-star flicks, and his first, Hard Eight, I’d put at three. Just my personal list though.
 
PTA is one of the best when it comes to the balance of needle drops, sound, and score. It’s an emotional language in this film. The song “He Needs Me” makes the dude feel fragile and vulnerable. Even though I have no patience for dudes who can’t take care of themselves, that need a mom out of their lover, Barry Egan gets a little bit of a pass. That said, there is no way that this could end happily for him. Sort of the Titanic problem. For it to be a real love story, dude has to die because there is too much shit for them to overcome.
 
Overall, it is a very sweet and tender love story. First time I remember talk about autism on film where the person wasn’t treated like a superhero, which was pretty cool. Sandler does a great job of making you feel the dude’s social anxiety and frustration. Good balance of danger and humor that really makes you go through a lot of emotions during its runtime, and after. And it is visually stunning.

Top 10 of 2025: 1. One Battle After Another

★★★★★--Paul Thomas Anderson making a movie based sort of on a Thomas Pynchon novel staring Leonardo DiCaprio and deals with stoner/leftist politics and offers a little bit of hope. Was this made for me? To quote Bludo in the flick, “yeah, kinda.” 

How was it? Loved it. Easy favorite of the year. Hell, this is in the running for my favorite movie of the century. In the company of Mulholland Drive, There Will Be Blood, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Zodiac. 

Watched it back-to-back the first and second time it played. Theater was packed in both. Saw it again a week later, and then once more in IMAX. The only movie I’ve ever seen four times in the theater. Went as Ghetto Pat for Halloween even. I absolutely adored this movie. Anyone who didn’t is a loser and probably MAGA. 

Speaking of, the Thomas Pynchon novel it’s based on, Vineland, which I love, was a critique of Regan policies and the hippie movement. This is also a critique of right-wing BS but mostly has to do with white supremacy. Also, way more accessible. I did watch a few winger reviews. Lot of bitching about Hollywood being woke, PTA being overrated, and them not getting laid. They called it propaganda and said it glorified violence. Cry me a fucking river. Obviously probably not going to like it if you are on the right side of the political spectrum, i.e. a piece of shit, but this movie doesn’t give a shit about you, so fuck you, Nazi. 

Stellar acting. Easy to do a lot with characters written this well. Leo is an absolute legend. I think he maybe wins his second Best Actor statue, though Michael B. Jordan is ridiculous in Sinners. I was a little concerned that the tone wouldn’t be right from the first trailer. Not comedic enough. Leo’s character seemed a little unlikeable, not one of my stoner buddies. But ends up being your zany far-left terrorist flick with characters that share a lot of similarities with some of my closest friends, if ya get me. “Viva la revolución!”

Have other Academy Award winners in Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Benicio is throwing a 100 miles an hour in this flick. He has a Harriet Tubman situation going on. Penn is pretty amazing as a deeply unlikeable racist federal agent. Great at making him scary and also buffoonish. Both are nominated for Best Supporting. Again, a strong performance from Delroy Lindo in Sinners may box them out. Teyana Taylor is great, but her character is a real bummer. One of several hard to watch postpartum depictions this year. Best that her character is mostly out of the picture after the first act. She got the Supporting Actress nod, though Regina Hall and newcomer Chase Infiniti, from Indianapolis(!), are both amazing.

Out of PTA’s movies, where does One Battle After Another rank? For me, it’s second. There Will Be Blood still ranks as the best movie of the century, IMO, and is an untouchable masterpiece. Then I like The Master and Phantom Thread, but they aren’t nearly as rewatchable as this one. Magnolia and Boogie Nights both fell way down the list for me with my most recent rewatches. Punch-Drunk Love, on the other hand, I now see as one of his best. So, my official listing goes thus: 1. There Will Be Blood, 2. One Battle After Another, 3. The Master, 4. Phantom Thread, 5. Punch-Drunk Love, 6. Inherent Vice, 7. Licorice Pizza, 8. Boogie Nights, 9. Magnolia, 10. Hard Eight. That said, I truly love them all. 

A few final notes: Love the dark humor. Also that it is more hopeful than the novel. Good guys win. Looks at the youth as really having a lot of potential, which is refreshing with the way people generally shit on them. Lastly, there is a car chase scene where they are going up over these hills. Like riding waves. Fantastic effect. It is out of this world. 

There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson - 2007

★★★★★- I think about this movie almost daily. Can interpret the film in about five different ways: Daniel never loved anyone and what he says to HW is a revelation, that he really loves HW chose his fake brother because HW seemed dangerous and this is his big life mistake (which is why he kills his fake brother [also why he’s obsessed with Eli being a false prophet]), that he loved HW but his drinking and rage made him crazy, that he deals with pain by throwing himself into his work which just makes him angrier over time, or that he has always been miserable and wants others to be miserable because of his success. This is all Daniel Day-Lewis, who is in another league. Everyone else suffers from this performance. This is the best performance ever. No shit. 

This Jordan-esque Interpretation was how I saw it this time. “I have a competition in me. I want no one
else to succeed… I look at people and I see nothing worth liking.” Once his son becomes his competitor, he takes that shit personally. Never has there been a more complicated father-son relationship on screen. So good. 

We get glimpses of Plainview losing control several times up to the end when he completely fucking loses it in the greatest meltdown of all time. I have a little of that competition in me on my worst days. This isn’t comforting. 

Maybe my favorite scene is when Plainview runs HW in his arms after the accident. Then he runs to the well. “ What are you looking so miserable about,” he asks rhetorically. “There is a whole ocean of oil underneath our feet and I’m the only one that can get at it.” HW OK? “No he isn’t.” 

Less complicated is what’s going on with Daniel and Eli. These absolutely hate each other. Daniel treats Eli like an idiot who he has no respect for the beginning. Then he goes to that sermon, immediately realizes he’s full of shit, but also that he’s the one he’s gonna have to deal with. “And if I have no teeth I will gum you!”

If you don’t watch this masterpiece at least three times, you can’t even have a discussion about it. There is so much to take in through every second of the film. I love it. Truly. It is my favorite movie of all time maybe. 

Phenomenal soundtrack. When the music plays, it is on. It’s chilling. I listen to it often. The cinematography is crazy too. We are mostly distant and when we get closeups, it’s uncomfortable and ambiguous. 

Jesus fucking Christ. I rewatch it whenever I hear anyone mention it. Plainview goes through hell and he ends up a reflection of that. Absolutely profound. A goddamned masterpiece.