Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Sunday. The Grove. I’m there. Can’t freakin’ wait.
Here’s Rupert Pupkin with our first look at the film today:
Mr. K-
I realize that you've received about a thousand reviews of PUNCH - DRUNK LOVE by now, all pretty much saying the same thing, but I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by without expressing my love love LOVE for this movie.
PUNCH - DRUNK LOVE is absolutely stunning. Its a beautiful movie, thoroughly entertaining, totally engulfing..... I've been huge fan of Anderson's since his fist movie, and PUNCH DRUNK is nothing like anything he's done before. By now, everyone knows just what its about, and everyone know's that Adam Sandler gives a gut-wrenching performance that is so acutely observed and well executed, I couldn't imagine seeing better work by anyone else this year. But I just thought I'd mention some other people I haven't necessarily been reading much about in all the film's reviews.... For starters, Emily Watson is the shit. Her eyes are so expressive its scary and she, also, gives the best line reading of the whole movie. ("What is it, secret pudding, or something?") Mary Lynn Rajskub is hilarious and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman rock the casbah.
The cast is fantastic, but nothing can compare to the soundtrack. Jon Brion's pervasive music is INSANE. Once again, PTA demonstrates that no contemporary director uses music better. Like MAGNOLIA, the score not only comments on the story, but influences it.... the music actually becomes a part of the action in many scenes.... and its just sensational. Jon Brion's score is both percussive and melodic, acessing everything from jumpy prepared piano stuff and loopy orchestral waltzes, to gorgeous tack piano solos and Hawaain Ukele-driven melodies... And the one song featured on the soundtrack, Shelly Duvall singing Harry Nillson's "He Needs Me" from the Altman's POPEYE, blends in perfectly with the tone of the score and the movie, in general. (Its also catchy as a bastard). And some mention has gotta be made of Garry Rydstrom, the sound designer, who perfectly balances the score, the dialogue, and creates a real sense of unease... There's a couple of (magnificently filmed) car crashes in the movie and, thanks to Rydstrom, the sheer shock and loudness of them caused the audience to jump out of their seats as if they were at a horror movie. (Its no surprise that someone actually had a seizure at the NYFF during one of the tenser scenes...)
Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius. The man knows what he's doing. He's an unbelievable director (at some points in the film, the emotion reaches such dizzying heights that the screen just erupts into a collage of Jeremy Blake's color - drenched artwork) and an even better writer. His character's are so real, so human... Even when they do outlandish things like buy a whole mess a' puddin') it comes from totally real place and it never seems weird or phony... Sandler could never have given the performance that he gives if Barry Egan wasn't such an exquisitely written character. He's a character that doesn't always know what to say, doesn't always know how to act. He's doesn't know what he's looking for, but he know's he's missing something. And Anderson, being a supremely cool man, gives him Lena Leonard (Watson), and their love is a beautiful, scary thing.
This is movie for anyone who has ever been so upset, they put their fist through a wall. This movie is a masterpiece. Far and away the best of the year.
-Rupert Pupkin
Wow... that last paragraph really struck me. I must confess... I have a big Irish temper, and the Labs have sustained their share of physical damage over the years. I’ve always wondered how to write about that sort of rage, and if that’s what PTA has tackled here, I’m excited to see it...
Next up, we have Quint’s main squeeze, the one and only Auntie Meat, Austin’s own adorable Wednesday Adams-meets-Russ-Myers girl, with her take on things:
Auntie Meat’s Punch-Drunk Love Review
Allrighty, first things first, Auntie Meat’s quick capsule review: PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is a slowly paced character-based unusual love story with superbly subtle performances from the cast and a good job from ever-dependable director Paul Thomas Anderson. That’s the short and sweet version of my opinion. If you wish to hear more, and stumble across many a spoiler, then read on.
Adam Sandler plays Barry Egan, a self-employed quiet fellow who has no friends, the only family that has anything to do with him are his six sisters (who I’m certain were sent from hell to plague the earth itself), and no prospects of love are present in his life. He resides in a world of sterile, lifeless environments and exhibits the traits of a spineless coward, just letting life go along, day in-day out. He has no aspirations higher than his current station in life, no need to stick up for himself against his sisters’ constant ridicule, no motivation to do anything other than what he does (except this crazy idea he has to cash in big on a Healthy Choice 500 Free Frequent Flier miles deal, though he never travels and doesn’t think he ever will). The man lives in hell, all alone, and doesn’t see any way of getting out any time soon.
One night he fancies a break in the monotony of his dull after-five life and calls a phone sex line advertised in the paper. You know how it is, a guy gets lonely and he wants to get his rocks off a bit differently than usual. Nothing too perverted at all. Little does Barry know that this line also doubles as an outfit that likes to extort money from unsuspecting customers who sound like they may have deep pockets (and the company is run, of course, by sleazy businessman Dean Trumbull, played by a grizzly looking Phillip Seymour Hoffman). The morning after his Innocent call, the woman with whom he spoke demands a bit more money than the charges for the call. She threatens to make his life a living hell (as if that were too hard to do anyway), and sets the hounds loose on poor Barry later in the day after a few more bitchy calls.
Now, hours before the thugs arrive, enter Lena Leonard (a name that sounds like it’s straight out of a Superman comic), played by the ever lovely Emily Watson. Lena is a friend of one of Barry’s succubus sisters, and takes an instant liking to him upon their first meeting, despite his odd behavior (due to the phone sex chick constantly calling and bugging the poor lad) and the negative things his sister keeps saying about him. As she’s leaving she decides to go ahead and make a move and asks him to dinner. Though stunned by the interest, he accepts, and a match is made.
(That’s the long explanation of what is basically told in the trailer. Sorry to put you guys through that, but I don’t review that often anyway.)
Mr. Anderson puts together a great movie here, though many people will be put off by the slow pace, I’m sure. The plot mainly revolves around is the Lennon/McCartney principle of “all you need is love.” It is what gives a man with no meaning in life a meaning… it is what gives a man with no spine a spine. Once he gets this, there’s no stopping him. No one fucks with the Jesus.
Sandler plays his smaller-than-life character very well, very low-key, which is always something good to see him do, instead of the usual “I’m a loud obnoxious badass!” roles he’s been taking most of his career (though I do like some of those movies too). Emily Watson, as always, is a rock and her performance is duly solid as well. Hoffman never fails to play a great asshole, and Guzman, despite having very little to do, is always wonderful to have around. His presence alone is a treat, though I am biased. I think the man should be made into a superhero, somewhere along the lines of Captain Invincible.
One of the things I really dug about this picture was how real it looked and felt. Anderson shoots it very gritty. He lets the sun halos show when they appear, some of the lighting is bad, as it would be in certain places in real life, there’s no magical soft filter to this movie, and there are some times when the camera shakes around (though not as bad as a lot of intentional shakiness, like in The Time Machine – ugh). The camerawork reflects the reality of the characters populating the story, particularly the main one. Barry is much like many people out there, and it is wonderful to see a well-made uplifting story about the fact that one person in someone’s life can make a world of difference.
Something else I felt was awesome was the way the romantic relationship between Barry and Lena progressed. There were no long flowing speeches of how wonderful someone was. In the beginning, he’s talking to her about a radio DJ that he likes to listen to. There are times when there’s no dialogue at all, times that you can tell are uncomfortable silences, which quiet folks always have when they’re attempting to talk to people they don’t know that well. Forcing a conversation due to nerves and anticipation is one of the most grueling experiences one ever has to go through, especially if they really want a relationship of any sort to happen. I felt for his character, I’d been there, and most people I know have as well. It is all strange and new and a bit peculiar feeling. And it all ends up just the way it should (which includes some very odd pillowtalk).
Most people, when they go to see movies, want to see something fantastic, want to leave the real world behind, want to walk in the shoes of a giant for a couple hours. If you want to do that, go see The Transporter this weekend. It’s a fantastic action flick that’s light on plot but heavy on action. However, if you’d like to see a small, slow-moving film about someone overcoming mediocrity and, through the power of love, rising to the level where no one can mess with him anymore, then grab your significant other and head in to see this one. It really makes you appreciate what the one who believes in you most can do for your life.
I ache for the scent of the salt and my seaman!! Hury home, Quint!!
