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Jan 10, 2019ThomasWMutherJr rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I am not an Adam Sandler fan. When you mix moronic with hostility you produce something like, well, like Adam Sandler--it ain't pretty, and, more importantly, it ain't entertaining. But that's just me. I HAVE seen a few of his earlier movies and the experience was like that sweet sound of long, sharpened fingernails being raked over a blackboard (sometimes the experience was so bad it felt as if they were being raked over my juggler). There were a few moments when I thought I might have glimpsed something different, something almost human in his face, but then there'd be that idiot voice, or some wildly exaggerated mannerism--supposedly humorous, but actually cringe inducing--to reaffirm my antipathy. But then I saw a trailer for Punch-Drunk Love and-- what was this?--a movie with A.S. and Emily Watson?--that most excellent actress from Breaking the Waves? What was SHE doing in a . . . And that director? Wasn't he the one who did Boogie Nights? So, natch, I had to see this movie. I was curious . . . but soon I found myself mesmerized. Many Adam Sandler (AS) fans have lamented his radical departure from the kind of films he has done before--an entirely understandable reaction. None of us likes to see that which we love radically changed. People who love the glitz and neon of Las Vegas would reasonably be peeved to find that it had been razed, and a forest planted to take its place. It would be futile to attempt to prove to hard-core AS fans that this is a good film. How can you convince someone that something they don't like is something they should like? I know beets are good for you. I know that some people LOVE beets. I still hate beets. It's regrettable, but my beet animus remains. I LOVE Punch-Drunk Love(PDL). **MILD SPOILERS** I love it for all the myriad odd details--the harmonium that is dropped off in the middle of the street for reasons entirely unknown, AS's method of accumulating zillion's of Sky Miles--but then doesn't get to use them. I love it for a plot that is SUNNY in spite of ink-sodden clouds rumbling ominously all around, a plot that clearly originated outside the Hollywood cookie/plot-cutter factory--totally impossible to predict. I loved it for that odd little romance (yes, I admit it. Emily Watson's immediate interest in AS was a weakness in the film. I could see how she could fall for him over time, but how could her first impression have been anything but negative?). I loved the overall arc of the film--AS, insecure, sad, with occasional bouts of unfocused, psychotic rage (here, reasonably explained, unlike in AS's past [reputed] comedies), transformed by love into someone who could take that boiling-over-anger and turn it into a powerful directed force for good (that scene with the blonde brothers ramming AS's car was wonderfully cathartic. As soon as he saw that trickle of blood running down Watson's face, he was transfigured. His protective instincts for this person he cared for transformed his rage into a calm fearsome purpose). I loved it for Watson's luminous presence. Most of all, I loved it for Adam Sandler (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Excised from the slavery of less than mediocre cinema, his wildly exaggerated mannerisms were given reason, and he was suddenly nuanced, subtle, even human. It was a pleasure to see him act, to watch his emotional turmoil play out on his face, to be drawn in, to empathize . . . with an Adam Sandler character? Now THAT is movie magic. I'm not ready for AS to elbow his way onto my list of favorite living actors, much less supplant [written in 2003] Paul Newman from his lofty perch on the top rung, but I find myself looking forward to Spanglish. Who would have ever thought?