Dec 31 2008
Ive never felt so Punched, Drunk, and in Love before
Not too many films make you feel like the title tells you to, but this one surely does. If you want to feel like you have been punched while being drunk and in love, then watch Punch-Drunk Love. Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) and starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson comes this quirky, edgy, romantic, comedy? drama? dromedy? something.
If your a fan of faced paced, trivial dialogue and lens flairs, then are you sure to fall in love with this film. On the other hand, if you are sensitive to jolting noises and contrasting images and speeds, then you might want to steer clear. At one moment you are looking down a quite street, and then next a crumpled car comes roaring past. Never have I been so confused, and I think I’m okay with that.
The colors were striking with the contrasting red and blue always adding to the tension. The lens flairs got annoying. I’m not too sure as to the purpose of them, and there must have been one, because you cant miss that many lens flairs that streak right through the frame. It was most likely to add a distorted view to the scene for some reason, but to my cinematographers eye it was more distracting than additive. Nothing can pull you out of the scene and remind you of the camera like a lens flair.
The dialogue was nearly constant and speedy and felt unusually realistic despite its obvious oddities. The music was so out of place and contrasting to the scenes, which raises the tension and pace dramatically. Jon Brion’s score was fantastic and very intriguingly placed. The way in which this film is edited also adds to the odd pacing and dramatic tensions. Very unique!
The characters are all obviously flawed and extremely quirky. There is nothing better than a flawed character and especially a flawed hero. We can all relate and are so inspired when the underdog rises above his difficult circumstances.
The unfortunate problems with P. T. Anderson is that he loves the F-word. This is apparent in all his films. The obscenity is overtly out of place and blatantly ineffective and unnecessary. It adds nothing to plot and is rendered void because of its overuse. All power is stripped away and makes the dialogue and characters feel flat and scripted. It is the easy way out. Also the very descriptive phone-sex scene was a bit over the top. The story could have been just as effective with any random telephone scam. Or even just make it not so graphic and cut down on the F-words and make the film a PG-13 rating so more people can enjoy this films positive and effective qualities as stated earlier.
You did something P. T., you made me feel punched, drunk, and in love all by watching a movie. For that, I applaud you. It is a truly unique and quirky film that has much to be said for it. Although my applause is short lived and not very loud because you took the easy way out.
