Badmovies.org Forum

I've noticed lately that I'm starting to give up on horror and action films and that my taste is drifting towards documentaries and dramas.  I'm starting to enjoy deep character studies more than gorefest horror films.  (Never thought I would say that).  

Keeping this in mind, I say this:

 PUNCH DRUNK LOVE IS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS EVER MADE.

Never, have I ever been so sucked into a film as I was with this one.  Never have I felt so much pain for the characters as I did with Punch Drunk.  Never have I seen Adam Sandler act serious for an entire film.  Wow....

The film follows Barry Eagan.  He's in his early 30s, owns his own plunger company, feels empty and alone, and has an extremely bad uncontrolable rage problem.  He seems to be lost everywhere he goes.  Lost at work, lost at home.  That is, until he finds true love in Emily Watson (Red Dragon).  

There are so many subplots here.  Some will leave you confused (the piano in the street), the pudding for airline miles, and the phone sex operator that is hunting Eagan down.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the phone sex.  Barry decides to call a phone sex line one night while home alone.  The operator takes his credit information, home information, and social security #.  She then demands money from Barry and when he doesn't pay she sends out her brothers to rob him.

This of course leads up to his girlfriend getting hurt.  And when Barry gets p**sed, he gets p**sED.  


This is by far one of the best drama/romance films I have seen in years.  A perfect buy, and a perfect rental.  GO GET IT!

Barry Egan: I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.

I thought the movie was too bizarre for my tastes.  

The climax when Sandler goes to face the furniture store owner at the end was probably the biggest letdown I've ever witnessed in a film.

The film did have good individual scenes but as a whole I thought it failed.

I'm a big fan of P.T. Anderson's body of work but this one strayed off into the weird zone...which normally I like...but not this kind of weirdness.

It had excruciatingly slow pacing...which nearly made me doze off while watching it.
It is worth watching for Sandler's performance.
I get the feeling that this would've played better on the stage and not the screen.



Post Edited (08-19-03 15:28)

Documentaries and dramas are great.

I think that, if I had to pick ONE element that really makes me enjoy a movie, it would be dialogue. I love great dialogue. Even movies that have just "average" dialogue sometimes have one or two scenes where the dialogue is crisp and engaging.

Here are some movies that have great dialogue:

* 12 ANGRY MEN (with Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, etc.)

* PAPER MOON (the scene with Ryan and Tatum O'Neal in the restaurant where he keeps saying, "Eat your Coney Island" is fabulous)

* THE GRADUATE

* MY DINNER WITH ANDRE

* A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

* COOL HAND LUKE

* THE GODFATHER, PART II

* MARTY (Ernest Borgnine's finest performance)

* THE HUSTLER

* TAXI DRIVER

* TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

* CASABLANCA

* WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

I love horror and low-budget trash movies, but sometimes you just need to hear some well-written conversation.

This movie sounds like it needs to go into the trash bin with all of Peter Jack.........ooops um, uh,........I do not think that this is the movie for me.



T.