Punch-Drunk Love

Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Adam Sandler and Emily Watson star. Anderson regulars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear.

Sandler won positive reviews for his role in his first major departure from the crass comedies which made him a star; Roger Ebert wrote that "Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power."^*

Although the film was well received by critics it was not successful at the US box-office. The film had a $25,000,000 budget and grossed about $17,000,000 at the domestic box office (the studio receives about half the gross). This poor profit might have been due in part to established Sandler fans who were reportedly put off by the film's quirky, artistic style, which was more in line with independent film sensibilities than the mainstream, low-brow pictures for which he was best known.

The movie features the video artwork of Jeremy Blake as visual interludes.

Plot summary

Barry Egan (Sandler) owns a company that markets themed toilet plungers ("fungers") and other novelty items. He has seven overbearing sisters who ridicule him regularly, and leads a very lonely life punctuated by fits of rage. In the span of one morning, he witnesses a bizarre car accident, finds a harmonium left in the street, and encounters Lena Leonard (Watson), who he later learns orchestrated the meeting after seeing him in a family picture belonging to one of his sisters, a co-worker of Lena's.

Barry tries to find solace by calling a phone sex hotline for conversation, but the operators then attempt to extort money from him and send four henchmen brothers after him. This complicates his budding relationship with Lena, as well as his plan to exploit a loophole in a Healthy Choice promotion and amass a million frequent flyer miles by buying large quantities of pudding (based on the true story of David Phillips). After Lena leaves for Hawaii on a business trip, Barry decides to follow her. When on the phone with one of his manipulative sisters, she tries to pull one of her maneuvers on him but finds herself the receiving end of a nasty verbal tirade from Barry. She ends up giving the number to Barry. When another run-in with the brothers leaves Lena mildly injured, an outraged Barry attacks (and beats up) the four henchmen brothers with the use of his fist and a crowbar, then leaves her at the hospital and calls the phone-sex line to unsuccessfully demand an end to the harassment; he then heads to Provo, Utah to confront the hotline's owner in person. Surprised at his visit, the owner shows his true colors when, after Barry angrily tells him to leave him and Lena alone, he goes scampering for his office to hide.

When Barry returns, he tells Lena his story and asks for her forgiveness, pledging that he'll use his frequent-flier miles to accompany her on all her future trips.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Jon Brion, and features the song "He Needs Me" from the movie Popeye. The soundtrack received an enthusiastic review from classical music critic Greg Sandow.^*

Jon Brion provides main vocals (in addition to playing most of the instruments) in the song "Here We Go".

Tracklisting

"Overture" - (2:09)
"Tabla" - (2:59)
"Punch-Drunk Melody" - (1:43)
"Hands and Feet" - (3:42)
"Le Petit Chateau" - (1:36)
"Alleyway" - (0:55)
"Punchy Tack Piano" - (1:25)
"He Needs Me" - (3:31) - original vocals by Shelley Duvall, original composition by Harry Nilsson, remix and additional composition by Jon Brion and Jonathan Karp
"Waikiki" - (3:56) - performed by Ladies K, original composition by Andy Kummings
"Moana Chimes" - (3:03) - original composition by Johnny Noble and M.K. Moke
"Hospital" - (1:21)
"Danny (Lonely Blue Boy)" - (2:13) performed by Conway Twitty, original composition by Ben Weisman and Fred Wise
"Healthy Choice" - (2:10)
"Third Floor Hallway" - (3:23)
"Blossoms & Blood" - (2:05)
"Here We Go" - (4:47)
"He Really Needs Me" - (3:10)

Soundtrack Trivia

This is the second soundtrack Jon Brion has created to feature a song composed by Harry Nilsson ("He Needs Me"). A cover version of the song "One" by Aimee Mann was recorded for Magnolia, also a Paul Thomas Anderson movie.
Blossoms & Blood is the title of a featurette Paul Thomas Anderson created that features alternate takes and deleted scenes from the film. The featurette is on the special edition of the DVD.
Paul Thomas Anderson created a music video for the song "Here We Go" that focuses on a scene cut from Punch-Drunk Love in which Barry cries in his office and then goes to Lena's apartment to take her out on a date.
"Punchy Tack Piano" and "Hands and Feet" are featured on the website for the Largo nightclub where Jon Brion plays every Friday night. It's possible to both listen to a live version of "Here We Go" performed by Brion and watch Anderson's music video for the song on the website. You can reach the website by clicking on this link: Largo

Film Trivia

The pudding plot and related dialogue is based on the story of David Phillips, who earned 1.25 million frequent-flier miles using the scheme. Another promotion Phillips undertook, involving flying on South and Central American airlines within a limited time frame, was also included in the movie but later cut.
The movie has no opening credits.
Working titles included Punchdrunk Knuckle Love, Just Desserts and The X-4 Project.
Visually echoing the working title Punchdrunk Knuckle Love, the word "love" appears as a bruise across Barry's knuckles about 40 minutes into the film when Barry punches the map in his office over frustration at the news that his frequent-flier miles will not be processed in time to allow him to rendez-vous with Lena.
The four blond brothers who go after Barry and beat him up are actually brothers in real life.
During the scene where Barry is at the supermarket looking for the cheapest Healthy Choice food item, he is being followed by an out-of-focus character in a red outfit. It's Emily Watson's character, before they've been introduced.
The scene in which Egan first goes through the supermarket is composed as an homage to Andreas Gursky's photograph "99 cent".
Continuing his association with Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel appears in the movie in one of its most memorable scenes, as Barry's brother-in-law. Smigel has frequently worked with Sandler in many of the comedian's films such as Little Nicky, The Wedding Singer, Happy Gilmore, and Billy Madison, taking on all different character roles.

External links