"Punch-Drunk Love" and I have an interesting history together. I watched this film during college and thought that it was awful. I gave it a second chance in 2011, assuming that it could not have been nearly as awful as I remembered... and it was worse. Finally, I gave this film a third chance (forgetting that I had given it a second chance) in hopes that a greater knowledge of stylistic film would help me to better understand this odd presentation. I still didn't get it, but appreciated some of its unique characteristics enough to bump my rating from one star to two. And now I will never feel the need to revisit this film again. I mean it this time. More than anything, I wish that I could make sense of the critical acclaim for this film. Part of the problem could be personal preference. I didn't care for director Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" and I straight up hated "The Master," so maybe I'm destined to dislike his style. Then again, my wife was completely on board with me, commenting that "it's as if the studio took the ten worst movies that they didn't want to make and threw them all together. 'Some random piano story? Okay. Adult phone service gone wrong? Got it. Awkward love story? Why not!'" I love Adam Sandler's stupid humor roles from the 90's and his serious roles from the 00's, but this falls somewhere in between and ends up falling flat. The third time around, I found myself enjoying his outbursts more and really rooting for him as an underdog, but is this performance really worth a Golden Globe nomination? The redeeming piece of this puzzle could have been Philip Seymour Hoffman's character but he was limited to less than six minutes of screen time and the most interesting facet of this story is largely undeveloped. At times, the music gets so loud that you can barely hear the dialogue. At first, I was extremely bothered but then I realized that the director is trying to make the audience feel the same angst that Sandler is experiencing. Well played Mr. Anderson. Maybe I just don't get it, but "Punch-Drunk Love" is a dark comedy that feels random and unsatisfying. I just cannot recommend this swearfest-without-substance in good conscience. Not even after giving it a third try.
[Pictured: Yep, this is what you can expect for 90 minutes of your life when you watch this]
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