A Punch-Drunk Discussion

We wrangled over P.T. Anderson's film. We couldn't even agree what it was. Romantic comedy? Offbeat romantic comedy? Not romantic, but a comedy? Kind of?

Interesting also is how this film changes each time you see it. More than one of us felt that the "great love" theme of the film didn't resonate as much the second (or (n+1)st) time through. I am one of these, though I still quite enjoyed it. It is certainly (and by design) a much lighter film than Anderson's other work (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia).

And then there's the issue of Barry Egan (Sandler). He is indeed an unconventional leading man. Whether the film worked for you seemed to have a lot to do with whether you could find connection with him or not. On that note, a fraction of my personal history with Punch-Drunk Love (the film): I was highly disposed to reject the premise of this film when it first was released. Really the only thing that compelled me to see it was the fact that Anderson's Magnolia is one of my top five or ten favorites of all time. (As an aside, it is almost miraculous that in consecutive films Anderson managed to wring good, possibly even very good, performances from Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler. Despite that feat, I am glad he convinced Daniel Day-Lewis to be the centerpiece of his upcoming There Will Be Blood rather than Rob Schneider or Matthew McConaughey.) But I had a serious problem with a film that apparently romantically paired Adam Sandler, whom I loathed, with Emily Watson, whom I'd loved beyond words ever since watching her inexorable (and messianic) march to destruction in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves. (My love for Emily (and Daniel Day-Lewis, actually) even carried me along to loving The Boxer. I've never met another fan of the film, that I can recall. But it's really good, and if you don't think so, well, you're wrong. I think.)

But I digress. The point is this: I could not, would not like a film that paired Sandler and my beloved Emily Watson. But I was wrong. He was screwed up enough (and so was she) that they just... work. And maybe I'm just enough in touch with my inner rage that I could see enough of myself in Sandler's surprisingly non-incompetent performance to project myself into his obnoxiously blue suit. (As I mentioned in the TNFN invitation, it reminds me of Secretary a bit in just that way; two damaged people manage to find each other and help soothe the damage. Not to give away too much, since the more I think about it, this could be a good TNFN movie.)

Isn't that what we really want to understand, that we can be loved and valued despite how desperately screwed up and damaged we might be? Isn't that what we want to see?

I think that's why I like Punch-Drunk Love. And Magnolia. And Wes Anderson movies. Etc.

What do you all think?