If the term �romantic comedy� does to you what it does to me (something along the lines of provoking intense nausea and a sudden desire to give my eyes a bath in bleach) then the prospect of such a film, starring as it does the wob-eyed, spectacularly unfunny Adam Sandler may be the stuff of nightmares. Before you run for the Domestos however, consider that its director is none other than P.T Anderson, the man behind cult classic Boogie Nights and the fabulous narrative genius of Magnolia. Widely regarded as one of America�s brightest young directors, Anderson will do no harm to his reputation with Punch-Drunk Love, which is in fact a real beauty.
Sandler plays Barry Egan, nerdy, slightly retarded manager of a small, novelty household artefacts business. Very much a product of his upbringing, namely the only boy in a family with 7 sisters, Barry is a shy, introverted, withdrawn sad-case, whose amusement is drawn from collecting massive amounts of coupons from health-food products to accrue air-miles. Constantly tormented by his sisters, who are condescending to the point of sheer bullying, Barry�s temper is sorely tested and his pressure-cooker brain is prone to moments of visceral release. His life is altered however with two coinciding critical events. Firstly, a call to a phone-sex line (which gives rise to a hilariously uncomfortable scene in his bachelor apartment) goes awry when the people responsible (led by Anderson regular Philip Seymour Hoffman) threaten to ruin him. Secondly, one of his sisters sets him up with Lena (Emily Watson) who takes an instant shine to him. From this point he is forced to fight a battle on many fronts; with the threat of violence from his pursuers, with his nerves and insecurities in order to pursue and then protect Lena, and with his constantly pressurising sisters.
Remarkably, Sandler is a revelation, playing the jittery, nerve-wracked loser with some skill, helped no end by the wonderfully funny script he has to work with. Seymour Hoffman�s short stint is once again, as expected, superb. Anderson�s magic is in taking such a story and twisting it into an absurdist, surreal journey, which is both touching and highly amusing. The lead character is terrifically hard to fathom yet impossible to dislike. The chemistry between the two leads is most bizarre, at first unbelievable that the two could be meant for each other in any way (the title even suggesting it is a love which is not based on logic or sense), but it subtly and slowly reveals itself over time to the point where is it clear that these are just two lonely people who find the warmth and security they are missing in each other. The surrealist mood is heightened by the strange, percussive score and the way in which Anderson uses collages of deep pastel colours in between a number of scenes, creating the feeling of an old-fashioned love story, even when the reality is so very different. Short, sweet, and superb. |
