Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

A psychologically troubled novelty supplier is nudged towards a romance with an English woman, all the while being extorted by a phone-sex line run by a crooked mattress salesman, and purchasing stunning amounts of pudding.

Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Jason Andrews, Emily Watson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	Barry Egan
Jason Andrews	...	Operator Carter (voice)
Don McManus	...	Plastic (voice)
Emily Watson	...	Lena Leonard
Luis Guzmán	...	Lance
David Schrempf	...	Customer #1
Seann Conway	...	Customer #2
Rico Bueno	...	Rico
Hazel Mailloux	...	Rhonda
Karen Kilgariff	...	Anna (voice)
Julie Hermelin	...	Kathleen
Salvador Curiel	...	Sal
Jorge Barahona	...	Jorge
Ernesto Quintero	...	Ernesto
Julius Steuer	...	Mechanic

Storyline

Barry Egan is a small business owner with seven sisters whose abuse has kept him alone and unable to fall in love. When a harmonium and a mysterious woman enter his life, his romantic journey begins.

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Plot Keywords:

harmonium | love | small business | pudding | phone sex | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language including a scene of sexual dialogue

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Just Desserts

Filming Locations:

10101 Canoga Avenue, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£151,494 (UK) (7 February 2003)

Gross:

£322,921 (UK) (14 February 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Revolution Studios, Ghoulardi Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS-ES

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Even when writing the script, Paul Thomas Anderson knew he wanted the score to heavily feature the harmonium.

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Goofs

When Barry is looking at the piano after he brought it into the office; Lance arrives and he runs to greet him. When Lance and Barry go back to office; all the lights are on, in what had been a dark office.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Barry: Yes, I'm still on hold.
Phone Rep: And what was this?
Barry: I'm looking at your advertisement for the airline promotion and giveaway.
Phone Rep: Ah, the 10 for 1 mile plan...
Barry: Yeah, it's hard to understand, because it says "in addition to". But I can't exactly understand in addition to what? Because there's actually nothing to add to.
Phone Rep: I think that's a typo then.h
Barry: Okay, so just to clarify - I'm sorry - 10 purchases of any of your healthy choice products equals 500 miles, and with the coupon, the same purchase ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The film has no opening credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Down by the Riverside (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Waikiki"
Written by Andy Cummings
Performed by Ladies K

User Reviews

Biggest surprise of the year - an Adam Sandler art film

I caught this at the New York film festival and my expectations were about as low as they could be. I was never a huge Adam Sandler fan, and I hadn't ever taken a liking to PT Anderson's other films. I thought that Magnolia was pretty flimsy writing-wise, and I also thought that it got way too much undue attention when it came out.

I couldn't believe how great Punch Drunk Love was. It seems to be the polar opposite of Magnolia. Where Magnolia was sprawling, messy and often generic, Punch Drunk Love is short, tight and completely fresh. It reminded me of Fargo, in a way. It centers on a very small cadre of characters, it's incredibly focused, and it creates its own world for those characters to live and move around in.

It's been mentioned here before, but the art direction is stunning. I haven't seen such memorable visuals since The Royal Tenenbaums. In a grocery store scene, the items are stacked vertically by color (echoing the color bars that appear periodically between scenes), making the scene appear otherworldly. Other sets are bare of color or distinction. Sandler's love interest in the film (played by Emily Watson) lives in a maze of white corridors. Somehow, every "place" in the film has its own character and association. Even the characters become associated with particular colors.

The movie ends up being genuinely romantic while deviating completely from the very stale paradigm for romantic comedies of the last decade: Watson's character pursues Barry Egan; their inability to hit it off from the start is more character-driven and psychological than situational. Through the use of bizarre props and surreal scenes, the anxiety and frustration of Barry Egan becomes totally absorbing and affecting.

This is a wonderfully directed film. There isn't an extraneous moment. The visual style and pacing are particularly great. There's an interesting subtext in the film about communication - enormous background noise while characters are on the phone, Barry Egan's sisters' voices create this wall of noise (all voices making fun of him), telephones figure predominantly, the opening scene is completely bereft of background noise or music. There are a lot of interesting things to consider when it comes to the theme of communication and how sound is handled in the film.

That said, I'm already cringing at how most people are going to react to this. The Adam Sandler fans might find it too weird. People who liked PT Anderson's other movies might find it too pretensious. I was thrilled to have my low expectations completely overturned. This movie is great.