Drinking it all up

Punch-Drunk Love

Starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson and Phillip Seymour…

Punch-Drunk Love

Starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson and Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson knew just what he was doing when he hired Adam Sandler. When Sandler was announced to play the lead in “Punch-Drunk Love,” many were puzzled. Anderson is known for directing artistic films such as “Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights,” while Sandler is known for playing goofs in silly comedies. We never should have doubted the prodigious director.

In Anderson’s hands, Sandler gives a performance that is sad, scary and endearing at the same time.

He plays Barry Egan, a man who grew up with seven overbearing sisters to become a depressed introvert prone to sudden fits of rage. He’s terribly lonely but too afraid and shy to try finding a girlfriend.

The actual narrative defies explanation. It can be described as the story of Barry meeting Lena (Emily Watson), who just might bring something out of Barry, that just might save him. Beyond that, though, it needs to be experienced.

The film is surreal, but it still works as a romantic comedy. I promise.

It’s more than that, though. It somehow manages to be both borderline whimsical and ultimately truthful. Intoxicating and worrisome. It’s a new animal.

Sandler’s isn’t the only great performance in the film. Emily Watson is so natural; we never even contemplate how unlikely her character is – she’s a woman who’s actually attracted to Barry. Philip Seymour Hoffman is menacing as well as comical – one side never detracting from the other.

The film’s musical score, composed by Jon Brion, is dead-on – appropriately off-kilter. Also, in an inspired move, Anderson sets a large sequence to “He Needs Me,” a song from the film version of “Popeye.” The song fits perfectly and makes for a cool nod to one of Anderson’s biggest influences – director Robert Altman.

Of the new generation of directors, Anderson is the most natural filmmaker. His direction seems effortless, as if filmmaking might as well be breathing for him. And at the same time, his style is spectacularly different than that of any other director currently making films. With “Punch-Drunk Love,” he gives us another marvel.