Paul Thomas Anderson movie ‘Punch Drunk Love’ turns 20
Long before Adam Sandler simultaneously confused and amazed everyone with his excellent performance in Uncut Gems, he performed in a similarly befuddling role as part of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Punch Drunk Love, and 20 years have now passed since the film was released.
Punch Drunk Love is a real hybrid of a film, part comedy, part romance, part dark drama. Alongside Sandler starred Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman and Mary Lynn Rajskub. The film centres on a social anxious business owner who is bullied by his seven sisters and eventually (though with great difficulty) fall in love.
Sandler was something of a peculiar choice for the role, given his history as primarily a direct comedy man. Yet, Anderson had written the movie with Sandler in mind. Ultimately, even though Sandler had been “fucking terrified” of performing in the film, he was a huge success in the role, with Roger Ebert giving high praise for his performance. However, Anderson had to convince casting producer JoAnne Seller to throw him in.
Speaking of having Sandler in mind for the film, Anderson said: “I saw this Best of Adam Sandler DVD from Saturday Night Live, and an amazing thing happened. There’s this moment when he’s doing this talk show called ‘The Denise Show’ about his ex-girlfriend who’s left him, and his father calls up and says, ‘What are you doing; you’re embarrassing the family.’ And Adam goes into this fit of rage, screaming at his father, and honest to God, I saw this moment where it appears as if the whites of his eyes turn black and they roll back in his head”.
Detailing further, he added: “It was like, he just lost his mind. I would play it back, over and over again, and you can see him kinda snap back to reality. The audience is laughing, and it’s almost like he finally started to hear them laughing a few seconds later.”
JoAnne Seller admitted to being “befuddled” by Anderson’s choice: “After Magnolia, [Paul] wanted to make a really short movie. That was the first thing I remember him saying. But yeah, he wrote it for Sandler. He was a huge Sandler fan, and I was just befuddled. I just didn’t get the whole Adam Sandler thing at that stage. I mean, the Saturday Night Live stuff, yes, but the movies that Adam had done weren’t for me. As a British person, I didn’t really get the humour. But Paul just kept saying, ‘Oh my God, he’s so great!’ And he completely made me change my mind about Adam.”
Ultimately though, Sandler’s ability to amuse and entertain with his history of comic performances whilst simultaneously garnering sympathy from audiences during his distressing breakdown from falling in love led to arguably his most nuanced role in cinema to date. He would scoop the Best Actor Award at the Gijon International Film Festival.
If you haven’t managed to catch Punch Drunk Love, then why not mark the 20th anniversary of its worldwide theatrical release today by taking a watch? Check out the film’s trailer below.
