Film Review: Punch-drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA 2002)

This is a strange and ultimately disappointing Adam Sandler vehicle about a socially awkward yet successful businessman who has problems with women - seven over-bearing sisters and a mad, vengeant woman from the phone sex line company. Also, there is some bewildering love interest from the beautiful and beguiling Emily Watson (the only reason I hired the film from the library).

From the two Adam Sandler films I've seen to date - the other being the excellent Anger Management - he is seriously typecast as a nice but shy guy, the sort who is too embarrassed to ask out a woman. In Punch, there is a bizarre psychotic element added whereby Billy Egan (Sandler) goes around smashing up bathrooms ("restrooms" in the ridiculous American vernacular) and windows. I ended up pacing through the second half of the film at 16x on the DVD player.

No matter what film I watch, I always try and find what I like to call a "Shot of the film", a shot which demonstrates great artistry from the director and which might also add some symbolism to the subject matter. Most competent directors are able to produce one or two.

In Punch, the Shot of the Film is when Billy has been virtually frogmarched around his sister's place for an evening dinner along with the six other sisters and a number of other guests. Naturally, he cannot cope with the situation. Then comes the shot of the film: Billy takes refuge/sanctuary in another part of the house and the director Anderson frames Billy against a backdrop of a Welsh dresser type of wooden display cabinet complete with display china dinner plates and some silver, glasses, etc.

This is the shot of the film! Why? Because it sums up Billy's situation - he is hemmed in, totally on display at this social event, just like a Welsh dresser display cabinet full of plates, all for people to watch and admire.

Emily Watson is great! She's so alluring, lovely accent and a sort of quirky, unusual attractiveness. Just like in Angela's Ashes and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.