The thing about this movie is that it's a romantic comedy; something that I'm not quite sure whether people are getting. If you were to say that Barry Egan (Adam Sandler)
is too violent
is a liar
is crazy
is stupid
is someone Lena Leonard (Emily Watson) should avoid like the plague
then I'd recommend you walk to the nearest video store and rent the first movie you see with Meg Ryan on the box. It is vital that you understand that I have nothing against Meg Ryan.
Barry Egan never, ever hurts anyone except as revenge for giving his girlfriend a concussion, and even then he makes sure to return the property he borrowed.
Barry Egan comes clean with his lies at the earliest possible opportunity, and, given the chance to tell white lies, he more often than not tells the truth even when it would be to his benefit not to do so.
Barry Egan isn't any crazier than anyone else in the movie, and in my opinion, he's coping incredibly well considering the circumstances.
Barry Egan figured out how to travel around the world for the rest of his life on pudding. Have you ever done anything that smart? Do you own your own successful business?
Be honest. When you think of Tom Hanks or Michael Keaton or Hugh Grant, what, really, do any of their characters have over Barry Egan? Are you sure you want to say that he doesn't deserve the girl as much as they do?
Paul Thomas Anderson has demonstrated over and over again his command of Hollywood convention, even when he really would rather do something else. But, as is especially evident in Punch-Drunk Love, when his heart just isn't in it, rather than stoop to sarcasm or talking down to his audience, it's more as if he just says, "This is the part in the movie where..." and moves on as quickly and as seamlessly as possible.
This is, it is important to note, quite different from the disregard Anderson has for unity of time and place. The only reason the dislocations are more visible here than in your average romantic comedy is that they stand out in contrast to the human truth that soaks every frame. And in the meantime, we're treated to a carnival ride in a movie.
If you think Adam Sandler has no business being the male lead in a true-blue romantic comedy or in a movie directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, then either
you haven't seen any of Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, or The Wedding Singer, or, if you have, then you really should think about why you see movies like that. Adam Sandler is clean-cut, funny, and he inspires the sort of feeling in any onlooker that he clearly inspired in Lena Leonard when she saw a photo of him with his sisters.
Why is Emily Watson British? Rather, why is Lena Leonard, the character she plays in the movie, British? Is it a senseless affectation? Is it a cheap way to lend her character worldliness and mystery? If the answer to either of those questions is, "Yes", then, well, we still haven't dropped below the Meg Ryan line, let us remember. More likely, however, it's because Emily Watson really talks that way, and she's beautiful and deserves every chance she gets to take the female lead.
(I heard a rumor that Jean-Pierre Jeunet originally wrote Amélie in English for Emily Watson, and when she backed out of the project, he re-wrote it in French. On the whole, I think the way it turned out was a wash; we get one fewer movie with Emily Watson, but we got one more good French film.)
Incidentally, if you liked Punch-Drunk Love, my bet is that you'll also like my favorite Meg Ryan movie Joe Versus the Volcano, which co-stars Tom Hanks. In fact, I urge you to see it next; these two movies have more in common than you might think.
I think the real reason people don't get that this is a romantic comedy is that it's so stressful (something that owes a great deal to the amazing sound editing). Sure, romantic comedies are stressful, but they're not supposed to be too stressful, and they're nowhere near as stressful as real love. That's part of the point! That's part of the reason they make such good date movies, because it helps make all the effort seem a little lighter for a while. Punch-Drunk Love doesn't pull any such punches; instead of having to take the man's word for it that he'd crawl through broken glass for the woman he loves, we just by God see him doing it over and over again.
—Darien Large
posted at 4:49 PM |
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