Sandler film leaves audiences stunned
The strangest thing has happened in the land of movies, and we can all thank our lucky stars that the planets of Adam Sandler and director Phillip Thomas Anderson have aligned oddly – gloriously – and for the pleasure of audiences everywhere.
Punch-Drunk Love is what every great film should be – a world in and of itself.
In this world, neither the rules of Adam Sandler films nor the rules of commercial filmmaking apply to a noticeable extent.
The film shifts, slides and heaves on its own, flowing over and through the depths of isolation, the ice of anxiety, and the highs of an sudden, blindsiding love.
Both players do their part. Anderson designs every scene meticulously with long, elaborate visuals and stylized lighting.
Nearly every shot reveals another trick up his sleeve as the sound is manipulated, the action takes temporary field trips into a colorful animated mood world, and the title remains oddly absent from the film until it’s over.
Creative body scars even take part, when Sandler punches a hole in the wall, his scabbed knuckles spell out l-o-v-e.
Sandler, like clay in Anderson’s hands, is transformed into the character he’s always hinted at in his other films.
He plays Berry Eagen, a nervous, internalized outsider who is prone to sudden furious outbursts of anger.
This leads to a paradox for the audience – do you laugh at Adam beating the hell out of a restaurant bathroom in the middle of a date, or do you sympathize with this fit as a desperate sign of helplessness?
You’ll probably do both, but the laughter for this scene, like so many others in this film is a nervous one. It’s one which keeps an ever-present eye on the potential for failure. It’s the one that’s peeking in on your life.
The plot originates from the true story of a civil engineer who took advantage of a promotion involving huge amounts of airline miles in exchange for purchasing pudding.
The story then branches off into equal parts romantic comedy, phone sex extortion thriller, Sandler slapstick and art house inventiveness.
The entire work permeates with a knowing, winking glow of honesty.
The style is simultaneously subversive and flashy. The camera moves and the spotlights are noticeable.
It’s hard to pinpoint why every single mood shift feels right, or why you don’t realize you’ve held your breath through the duration of a tense scene.
But that’s the magic that washes so colorfully through this film.
It asks you to surrender yourself, keep quiet and let its redemption and love wash over you.
