Punch-Drunk Love

2002 Comedy Drama

Adam Sandler and Emily Watson star in Punch-Drunk Love, an odd romantic comedy from gifted young director Paul Thomas Anderson. Sandler plays Barry Egan, a shy sad-sack with a great deal of repressed anger that occasionally bursts forth in sudden violent outrages, who falls in love with Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), a co-worker of one of Barry's seven sisters. After calling a phone-sex line, Barry is extorted by bad-guy Dean Trumbell (Anderson regular Philip Seymour Hoffman), who eventually sends four goons to assault Barry and get the money. This film was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where Paul Thomas Anderson was named Best Director.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson,Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Mary Lynn Rajskub

 30 Reviews  16 Awards

Reviews

  • 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

    27 May 2013

  • The film is exhilarating to watch because Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 May 2013

  • Despite its title, Punch-Drunk Love is never heavy-handed. The jabs it employs are short, carefully placed and dead-center.

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    27 May 2013

  • An Adam Sandler movie with class, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, so be it. The movie is a happy nightmare of silly-smart movie comedy that defies category - and challenges expectations involving Sandler and his pictures.

    Michael Wilmington - The Chicago Tribune

    27 May 2013

  • It's a small victory, but Punch-Drunk Love knows how to reap epic delight from the most precious of details.

    Rene Rodriguez - Miami Herald

    27 May 2013

Awards

  • Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical

    American Cinema Editors (2003)

     

  • Paul Thomas Anderson

    Cannes Film Festival (2002)

  • Best Director

    Central Ohio Film Critics Association (2003)

  • Best Director

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2003)

     

  • Best Actor

    Chlotrudis Awards (2003)

Lists

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