Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Punch-Drunk Love is Paul Thomas Anderson’s 4th
feature film and it is in an interesting place in his impressive filmography.
This is the film he made after Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999) both of
which were very ambitious projects both in length and subject matter so it
seems like Punch-Drunk love was a chance for PTA to blow of some creative steam
with a shorter and for lack of a better term, more artsy production starring
Adam Sandler, who would have guessed it?
Punch-Drunk Love tells the story of Barry Egan, a troubled
man who is both endearing and terrifying. Barry works as a plunger salesman who
in the words of one of his 7 sisters “does nothing”. The narrative of this film
is complex and intertwining, there is one side story of Sandler’s character
collecting pudding for an airline deal, one of a phone-sex worker out to rip
him off and then at its core a romantic relationship with a girl called Lena.
It sounds like a lot to fit into 95 minutes but when PTA is in charge you can
pretty much guarantee that it will never get messy.
One great thing about this movie is its style, this film
looks beautiful. More or less every shot is bathed in red, white or blue in an
almost artificial way which I absolutely love, you could look at any shot out
of context and know it comes from this movie, it is so visually consistent and
stunning. Lens flare is used a lot in this film too, probably in reference to
the directors of the French New Wave which this film reminded me of a great
deal, visually at least. It particularly reminded me of Jean-Luc Godard’s Une Femme Est Une Femme (1961).
I also can’t ignore Adam Sandler’s performance, it is
outstanding. He really convinces you that behind his naïve, childlike state that there is a genuinely tough and frightening guy. His portrayal of
Barry constantly on the verge of snapping amazed me from start to finish and
makes me wonder why he hasn’t been given/opted to do more complex roles.
Punch-Drunk Love isn’t my favourite Paul Thomas Anderson
movie but it is definitely one of his most interesting. The storytelling is
complex, the visuals are outstanding and he always gets the best out of his
actors. The film also flies by so I think I will be revisiting it soon.
7/10
18/11/2015
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