Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
95 minutes
- Adam Sandler
-Emily Watson
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
Do you like to smile? Do you like to have certain adjectives describing your smile such as big, warm, and goofy? Wouldn't you like to have a certain something to brighten your day and put this said big, warm or goofy smile on your face? For me, it's P. T. Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, a movie that throws away all cynicism and judgement and fills itself with one magical word: Joy.
The first installment of A Look Back On takes a trip in the odd, awkward, comical and sincere love story of entrepreneur Barry Egan. Barry, the owner of a business that sells plungers, is an introvert. Barry is the only brother of seven sisters who, like most siblings, tend to give him a hard time. When one of his sisters tries to introduce Barry to one of her girl friends, he declines in a small panic. That night Barry indulges in a gut wrenching phone-sex line call and gives all of his personal and financial information. What results is an illegal scheme to steal his money all the while Barry finds his quirky love with his sister's friend.
Barry is an interesting character that I can easily see myself in. Barry is a contradiction. He is nervous and anxious around others, but longs for a human connection. He wants to give a possible plunger buyer his home phone number, just in case he would want to reach him outside of work hours. It even takes him several minutes to actually utilize what the phone-sex line is for because he keeps distracting himself with normal small talk about himself that he desperately wants to share. Because of his anxiety he struggles with coping around normal relationships even though that is the one thing he truly wants.
But having this character destroy public property and initiate in awkward but funny conversations there needs to be something more that propels this movie from a good movie to a great movie. Here are some things Punch-Drunk Love manages to pull off:
1) Getting you into the mindset of Barry.
While I already find similarities between Barry and I, the film does a great job of making it easy for me to enter Barry's emotional state. The music is a key component. Jon Brion places what seems like sand paper being scratched over holographic photos, pops and fizzes permeating the background, loud cymbal crashes and horn rises. All of this surrounds Barry during his encounters with people. One good example is a frenetic scene when Barry is finally introduced to his sister's friend Lena. It's easy to imagine the panic in Barry when he is beginning to struggle with his newly formed problem with the phone-sex line, his sister's forceful introduction to him of his "possible date" and work related accidents, but the music pushes you further into the chaotic mindset Barry currently is in.
The camera work is also something to take notice of. The camera moves quickly, turns swiftly, never steady.You can't help but feel his anxiety and panic which really is a good start when nearing the second half the movie when it...
2) Excrets (gross) Joy through every scene.
After all the anxiety and panic that Punch-Drunk Love puts you through in the first half, all of it fades away when Barry's love story barrels down in full force. There is so much happiness going on. Barry decides to leave for Hawaii to surprise Lena.(You must watch the clip to understand my gooey rambling.) I mean...look at the earnestness in his walk! "Can you take me to where the beaches and the hotels are? Oh and a phone?" Oh man! My smile! "He needs me He needs me. But I do! But He does!" Oh he wants to find her so bad! He can't handle the heckling from his sister! But's it's ok. We know its from a good place. The light on the telephone booth lights up when he hears her talk! They both are excited to hear each other! How lovely! He can't stop from asking her questions, he wants to know so much about her! Look at her strutting towards him! Oh he's so awkward! Aw, he's going for the handshake. But wait! They have the most DELIGHTFUL EMBRACE ONE CAN IMAGINE. Excuse me. My cheeks need a rest. They hurt to much FROM SMILING LIKE A DAMNED DROOLING GOOBER.I realize that that was a very unprofessional analysis on how P. T. Anderson employs a thematically appropriate song, character interactions and cinematography to emphasize the joyful experience Barry is having. My brain just can't handle all of the joy my inner being fills up with. And being forced into all the anxiety and the panic stricken state of being, when the eager anticipation and the lovingly innocent relationship show up, it washes over you like cold water in a hot summer day.
3) It is unrelentingly not cynical.
For all I know, my generation should be called Generation Irony. Our entertainment is filtered through an ironic pit of reality shows ("Jersey Shore is so good because it's so bad.") and music ("I just bought Rebecca Black's Friday because it's so bad.") but what Punch-Drunk Love does so well is takes all of that away and puts in quirky people doing strange things and saying odd things to each other with no hint of irony or judgement. The film loves Barry and his faults. It loves the idea that his relationship with Lena is not a normal one. In a world growing up with judgmental bigotry and criticism of the odd, Punch-Drunk Love is one of the most fun and honest film watching experiences I've had had in a long time.
REDEMPTION POINT: 1
