Punch Drunk Love

Directed By - Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring:

Adam Sandler

Emily Watson

Luis Guzman

Mary Lynn Rajskub

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Plot: A beleaguered small-business owner gets a harmonium and embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman.

Review:

"I don't know if there is anything wrong because I don't know how other people are." - Barry Egan

"Wow" - Me

Oh Paul Thomas Anderson, writer and director of Punch Drunk Love, it is almost not fair what you can accomplish with your craft.  Movies like this do not happen all the time, only every time PTA decides to make one.  More on that at a later.  Adam Sander plays Barry Egan, a young entrepreneur selling of all things hotel and casino style plungers (fitting really.)  He has seven sisters, meets a girl, calls a phone sex line, buys a lot of pudding and occasionally breaks into a random act of violence.  Let me back up a second.  This is not your man-child Adam Sandler movie.  Anderson saw something behind those eyes and wrote a script with Sandler as the lead before knowing he would even accept.  The celluloid lords took over and everyone got what they wanted.  For Adam Sandler it was his first chance at doing something different with a director who is known for different.  For Paul Thomas Anderson, it could not have worked out any other way.

We meet Barry opening up his business one morning.  A woman stops buy to drop her car off at the repair shop next door.  Not open yet, she asked Barry to give them the keys and off she goes.  Seconds later a harmonium falls off a truck and Barry scoops it up and stashes it in his office.  As the day progresses Barry is interrupted multiple times at work by his sisters on the phone wanting to make sure he is coming over that night for a birthday party.  Turns out one of them has a women she thinks he should meet.  Barry goes from total commitment to maybe not attending.  A fractured man with a sister who is trying to help.  Barry does show up that night but the blind date had been called off.  The pressure of the situation leads to the breaking of many panels of glass and Barry asking a dentist about a shrink.  Barry goes home and reluctantly calls a phone sex line, not to get off but to talk.  He sort of claims he has more money then he does and the next morning his phone rings.  Its the phone sex girl and she wants money.  None of this makes sense as I type it but the anger and beauty of this not so typical day is bleeding off the screen.      

Turns out that almost blind date was the woman who dropped off her car, Lena (Emily Watson) She had seen a picture of Barry and wanted to meet him.  The earlier car drop was not by chance, a common theme in Anderson's movies.  Barry is a good man, a nice man who one suspects having seven sisters ruined him emotionally.  He is ashamed of his past and builds up his future.  While at the grocery store he notices a promotion by Healthy Choice.  For each dollar spent you gain free frequent flyer miles.  Turns out there pudding has a loop hole.  Four for 99 cents yet each one gets scanned individually.  He even calls the company to verify.  Its all good.  Barry has no desire to get on a plane but the opportunity is too great for him to pass up.  So buy some pudding he does.  Lots and lots of it.

So back to the phone sex woman.  She has all of Barry's personal information.  After a few failed attempts at getting her money we are introduced to Dean (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) her boss.  He enlists a few thugs to scare him into it.  Oh, did I mention during this time Barry and Lena go on a date, he destroys a bathroom, gets kicked out before they can order appetizers and she is going to Hawaii on business in a few days.  Still, none of this makes sense as I type it.  It simply needs to be seen.

So after our first date ends in near vehicular manslaughter Barry desides to stand up for himself, maybe for the first time in his life.  The supressed rage he has harbord now becomes fully manifested and he goes after the people who have blackmailed him.  This is a slow burn.  We build up to the point of no return.  Yet this may be the first time in a while where someone stands up, does the right thing and becomes a better person for it.  Does he lose the girl in the process?  I wont say but everyone needs somebody to love.  

Nothing in this film is wasted.  Every shot, every background item, every word and every emotion is a calculated act of immense story telling.  The intense visuals paired with the emotional need of these people creates a very unique movie experience.  This was Paul Thomas Anderson's first film after 'Magnolia', a movie I will get to one day.  Anderson left the mega three hour movie idea behind and created his own hour and a half love story.  He didn't forget about the emotional struggle of every day life that is at the core of all his films.  These are people in need.  Anderson has a way of ripping those feelings from his actors that very few, if any directors today can. 

This is an odd film, a sad film, a happy film and an amazing piece of movie making.  Every single person involved helped to create a world that truly mirrors life.  Not a second of this film is without purpose.  Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Sandler and Emily Watson created the perfect love story in this Day & Age.  I think we could all use a harmonium.  

4 Crowes out of 4  

Numb

Directed By - Harris Goldberg

Starring:
Matthew Perry
Lynn Collins
Kevin Pollak
Mary Steenburgen

Plot: A chronically depressed screenwriter desperately tries to cure his condition when he meets the girl of his dreams.

Review:

Hudson (Matthew Perry) finds himself in a state of unwanted distress one night after having too many hits of a joint while hanging out with his friends.  Unfortunately for him, once the buzz wears off, the anxiety and depression only gets worse.  Walking around in a self described state of nothingness, Hudson hides in his home, loses interest in work and assumes this is how the rest of his life is going to be.  Enter Sara (Lynn Collins) with whom Hudson has instant chemistry with.  He now decides it is time to figure out his head if he wants to keep the girl.

One would expect this movie to fail largely to the fact of who's mug is plastered on the movie poster.  Matthew Perry will never be able to remove himself from his 'Friends' days and his movie credits include The Whole Nine Yards, Three To Tango and Almost Heroes.  Those movies may not have been Oscar gold winners but I have always enjoyed Matthew's likable good guy in a bad situation persona.  Here he goes for something different as a man suffering from depersonalization.  There are some very serious moments in this movie and Matthew holds his own while suffering through a nervous breakdown.  Thankfully writer and director Harris Goldberg keeps the story light with plenty of humor along the way.  The film was also autobiographical for Goldberg as he had suffered from this type of depression.   

Hudson's best way to keep himself grounded is to watch The Golf Channel for days on end, this makes him relax and forget about his problems...zone out is really the key phrase.  He has to walk the line of normal with Sara but after a few too many stay at home movie marathons she wants to go out.  This is not the best idea for Hudson and as Sara pushes to move the relationship along you get the feeling the whole thing is a ticking time-bomb...and it is. 

In an attempt to get better Hudson tries many failed attempts at therapy.  Each one prescribing him a new medication that does nothing for his symptoms.  One in-particular, Dr. Cheryl Blaine  (Mary Steenburgen) falls hopelessly in love with him resulting in a much needed comedic break and underscoring how maybe the ones always hearing about our problems are really well...Fucked up too.  I also have to mention Kevin Pollak who plays Hudson's best friend and co-worker.  Most of the humor comes from the many scenes of them together and almost every single one of them involves the mass consumption of food.  After a while you start to wait for the next one to see where they will take it.  

The ending of the film could have been more direct and hopeful but I guess when you are writing about something so profound hope doesn't really enter into the equation.  I respect this movie more than I actually liked it.  A very nice love story intertwined with a complete loss of who you are and what the future holds. 

2 Crowes out of 4