Punch-Drunk Love

"And all at once, I knew, I knew it once, I knew he needed me."
--lyric from Harry Nilsson's "He Needs Me" as sung by Shelley Duvall, a song which will be known as the song from Punch-Drunk Love instead of that song from Popeye with Robin Williams.

Adam Sandler stars in a role that is a departure of sorts, but manages to keep some of his comedic side on-screen through Punch-Drunk Love, a romantic comedy that in some ways, isn't one at all. He's a guy who's all alone with barely any interaction with others, save for his seven sisters. He does become a civil engineer and makes and sells unbreakable designer handles for toilet plungers. Things in his life come to a standstill when he ruins his sister's birthday party by breaking some glass doors and confessing to his brother-in-law that he needs to see a therapist. Desperate for interaction, he calls a phone sex line and across from an empty chair, talks to Georgia. But soon, she keeps calling back and eventually asks for money, which he refuses to do. At the same time, he meets Lena, played by Emily Watson. Motivated by a picture on the wall, she wants to meet him and get to know him. And it seems it was love at first sight. When she leaves to Hawaii for business, he promptly chases after her, even if his scheme for one million frequent flyer miles won't go through for another 6 weeks. It is when they get back from Hawaii, and this path meets up with the path of Georgia and her money scheme, when Sandler's Barry Egan finally begins to realize direction in his life.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has mostly been associated with long, carefully detailed films on dark subject matter such as the porn in Boogie Nights or death in Magnolia, itself a 3-hour movie. But this 90 minute movie flies by so fast, I was wanting more. Watching Sandler and Watson interact on-screen was fun to watch. Even the one song in the film fits in perfectly with the situation those two find themselves in. But Sandler shows real growth from the simplistic characters seen in his purely comedic roles. From loneliness to craziness to a romantic to headstrong, he plays everything in this film. He could actually make the leap to dramatic roles, as most recently Jim Carrey has done with modest success. And in this chracter-driven movie, Sandler really lives up to expectations and exceeds them. During the first half of the movie, his character was erratic and distant. But once he had someone to care for and knowing the feeling was mutual, he takes control of everything, his love, his anger, everything, as shown when the 4 blond brothers who are getting Georgia's money from him get beaten up after hitting Barry's car, giving Lena a cut on the forehead. Yes, at the end, there will be questions. Like why does Barry let Georgia's boss go after confronting him about stealing money? But what PT Anderson movie doesn't make you ask questions? All I know is, it was entertaining to see and I'd see it again. And that's that. 3.5 stars