Punch-Drunk Love: at last, a really good Adam Sandler film (no, honest)
At the weekend saw Punch-Drunk Love (2002) on Sky Movies (so if you’ve got Sky and haven’t seen it, you still can).
Amazing. I’ve never rated Adam Sandler before; but this was a remarkable performance of a man navigating the Scylla and Charybdis of nervous breakdown and rage, and occasionally getting sucked into and then spat out by one or the other. It’s directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed Magnolia (who can forget Tom Cruise in that? “Respect the..” Yes, Tom, thank you.)
One thing that truly set this film apart is the music, which provides an undertone of unease, like a Tom Waits interlude or Peter Gabriel’s No Self Control (iTunes Music Store URL). Love to know who did that; it wasn’t clear from the credits.
- These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
- Terrible trailer, great film: Le Concert goes against the flow - so when else has a trailer undersold a film? (18 September 2010; score: 53.59%)
- If celebrity magazines had honest titles... (19 August 2004; score: 41.78%)
- United 93: the briefest review (20 August 2007; score: 39.87%)



