Friday Matinee

Punch-Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson’s strangely funny and emotionally complex exploration of loneliness, love, and human connection provides comedian Adam Sandler with the role he was born to play. Sandler shows real depth as a shy, love-starved man whose uneventful Sherman Oaks life selling toilet plungers is sent spinning topsy-turvy when he falls in love with a woman (Emily Watson) that his sister set him up with. The unconventional, unpredictable plot adds phone sex extortion, frequent flier miles, and lots and lots of pudding. Luis Guzmán, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are unforgettable in supporting roles, as is the offbeat score by Jon Brion.

“Entirely unpredictable and marked by audacious strokes of directorial bravado.” – Todd McCarthy, Variety

“The film is exhilarating to watch because Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor.” – Roger Ebert

“Anderson orchestrates a comic romance like no other. The effect is intoxicating. Sandler and the movie will knock you for a loop.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone