Punch Drunk Love tells the story of Barry Eagan, (played with soul-soaked presence by Adam Sandler) a toilet-brush salesman with a slight anger management and crying problem, which seems to have arisen from the way in which his seven sisters treat him. Taunting him verbally as a child seems to have had an effect on him, as you witness him tearing up a restaurant bathroom, smashing his sister’s glass doors and buying copious amounts of pudding to aid in gaining frequent flyer miles and taking advantage of a loophole in the company’s marketing terms. Rather intelligent actuall

The opening sequence of the film establishes the off-centered rollercoaster that soon departs, as there are no opening credits and the first shot is Barry seated at a desk to the far left of the screen in an empty garage. This emphasizes the fact that we have actually been thrown right into the middle of someone’s story. Like Anderson has just opened a window into his characters lives and we are just looking through it for a couple of hours. The movie has no real beginning or end, just a portion of a much bigger life that we are viewing. Soon after, he meets Lena Leonard (played with devilish cuteness by Emily Watson) who falls in love with him instantly for no apparent reason.

Winning the Best Director Award, for this film at Cannes 2002, Anderson takes his audience on a less grandeur ride than he did in previous works of the same genre, as it is missing the colourful complex plot lines, but works equally as well with the simple story used. Where usually, these kind of thought provoking films are based on ideas, Punch Drunk Love focuses more on the depth of characters and their complexities. Aside from this, the film does indulge in many symbols. A harmonium, pudding, telephones and Barry’s blue suit, just to name a few. It appears as though Anderson has used these simple, mundane things to signify the greater themes and emotions in his film. For example, the harmonium that Barry stumbles across at the beginning symbolizes Lena, as they arrive in the film at the same time, and as their relationship grows, his ability to play the harmonium does so in return.

Landing in between two extremes, the film has had mixed feedback; too weird for usual Adam Sandler fans, yet a little too submissive or obedient for hardcore indie fans. A leap for Sandler, as his performance in the film conveys just how versatile his acting skills are. No longer are his trademark mannerisms (one line gag

Some topics in this essay:
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