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Movies / On DVD / Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love

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Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

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Reviews Counted:180

Fresh:142

Rotten:38

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Punch-Drunk Love is weird and delightfully funny, even though Sandler essentially plays the same character he has always played in all his movies.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Paul Thomas Anderson follows 1999's MAGNOLIA with the intensely compelling character study PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a quiet, shy, socially awkward man with an office in an... Paul Thomas Anderson follows 1999's MAGNOLIA with the intensely compelling character study PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a quiet, shy, socially awkward man with an office in an out-of-the-way warehouse. He is dedicated to his job as a wholesale toilet plunger salesman, he keeps a nice apartment, and he is obsessed with special offers on grocery store products. Barry's latest fixation is on frequent flier miles included with the purchase of Healthy Choice foods. Barry wears a bright blue suit, though he doesn't know why. With seven outspoken sisters, Barry is constantly being nagged, questioned, and berated. He is challenged to explain the reasons for his actions, and it eventually becomes clear that Barry cannot control his often-violent impulses, a trait which is increasingly problematic. When a beautiful woman, Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), walks into his life with an instinctive attraction to him, a nonjudgmental attitude, and unconditional love, Barry undergoes a powerful transformation. Anderson's film is a tour-de-force for which he garnered the Best Director award at Cannes 2002. Set primarily in Los Angeles and Utah, he shoots either bleak deserted spaces (apartment building hallways) or lush, exotic paradises (Hawaii). Aiming for a Technicolor look, the blue of Barry's suit in contrast with Lena's solid pinks, reds, and whites, pops off of the screen. Colorful interludes designed by visual artist Jeremy Blake offer hallucinogenic lapses from the action of the film, while the rapid percussive score by Jon Brion keeps the suspense and the emotional exasperation of the film on a constantly high level. [More]

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Mary Lynn Rajskub

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenwriter: Paul Thomas Anderson
Producer: Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi
Composer: Jon Brion
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Reviews for Punch-Drunk Love

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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The film looks good and has its funny moments, but too often one senses Anderson straining to impress...

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'Punch-Drunk Love is so convinced of its own brilliance that, if it were a person, you'd want to smash its face in.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
02/27/03
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
Teletext

Subtle and more than a little offbeat, this is the kind of movie the Farrellys might make if they (a) made intelligent films and (b) weren't obsessed with gross-out humor.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/14/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Anderson has a firm grip on Sandler's dangerous essence and draws it out in an astonishing performance.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/02/03
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Nothing makes much sense, and the Watson character would have run a mile from Sandler, who performs like Jerry Lewis at his least endearing.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/25/03
Philip French
Philip French
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Both funny and moving -- profoundly odd, but also oddly profound.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/07/03
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An oddly moving, surprisingly charming film that you'll find yourself thinking about months after you see it.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
02/08/03
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

The film is unpredictable in its humour, drama and poignancy, and ends up fascinating.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
02/16/03
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

Shots, such as when Sandler and Watson kiss in silhouette, are truly memorable -- but Punch-Drunk Love is never more than this: a series of chocolate-box moments, PT-style.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/28/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A sustained fest of self-congratulation between actor and director that leaves scant place for the viewer.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/12/02
Erica Abeel
Erica Abeel
Film Journal International

Sandler, in trusting his director, gives a performance that declares the star a genuinely fine actor.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
10/10/02
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Anderson presents some of the sweetest, and most heartbreaking, moments in any movie this year.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/22/02
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

It's a romantic comedy on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Punch-Drunk Love mostly feints and jabs; by Anderson's standards it's strictly lightweight. But Sandler delivers the kind of knockout performance that even his staunchest defenders probably didn't realize he had in him.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
10/25/02
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

This is no "Waterboy!"

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment 5 Comments
10/09/02
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

An odd, haphazard, and inconsequential romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
10/10/02
Rod Armstrong
Rod Armstrong
Reel.com

Invigorating, surreal, and resonant with a rainbow of emotion.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
10/17/02
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

'No es la mejor película de P.T. Anderson, pero si es una mucho mejor opción que la mayoría de las que abundan en la cartelera'

Full Review Source: Moviola | comment Comment
05/12/03
Jorge Avila Andrade
Jorge Avila Andrade
Moviola

In the end, Punch-Drunk Love is one of those films that I wanted to like much more than I actually did. Sometimes, that's enough.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
10/25/02
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

In his effort to 'redefine' the romantic comedy, Anderson has made a film that is neither romantic nor funny.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
09/06/03
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly
 
 
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