*NOTE* THIS IS NOT A REVIEW SO MUCH AS AN UNFINISHED COLLECTION OF MY THOUGHTS ON THE MOVIE
"Punch-Drunk Love" Rated R
*****/*****
Adam Sandler is both the same and very, very, different in his newest film. His character is in many ways very similar to some of the ones he has played in his other films, but there are some important differeances. Barry Egan is indeed very angry and is prone to sudden outbursts of anger, but unlike Sandler’s previous characters, Egan has depth. Egan is a touchingly fragile and human character. He has suffered so much abuse over the years that he can barely hold a conversation with anyone. He has seven sisters that treat him like dirt and consequentially, he fumbles around awkwardly, afraid of his own shadow.
We witness him with his sisters and their families at a dinner party where he stands back on the side while the rest of the family says horrible things about him as if he wasn’t there. Once his anger becomes too strong, and his restraint becomes pressured too much to handle, he impulsively smashes all the glass around him. We are used to seeing Adam Sandler lose it and destroy everything around him, but never like this. It is as if Egan, when pushed too far, becomes a completely different person. It is his unsound ability to deal with the world around that drives him to become - for a split second - Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore, but it is his character the rest of the time that is interesting.
Sandler displays this shift in character so perfectly and believably that the viewer neither sees it coming, nor is surprise by it. It is so natural and fitting that this would happen to Egan that it becomes almost a necessity. It looks like Egan would literally burst if he didn’t release his anger on something. The genius of Sandler’s performance is shown right after the dinner scene. Egan speaks with one his in-laws in trust, pathetically asking for help for his emotional problems. “Barry, I’m a dentist” he replies. Sandler starts to sob in his hands and then breaks down. He amazingly manages to pull out the comedic tone through the immense pain and suffering we see as well. It is an extremely touching moment that defines his character. The audience finds itself baffled with a reaction somewhere between laughter and tears. The best anyone could manage in the theater I was in was a sad, squeaky chuckle.
Just when Egan’s emotional pressure becomes almost too much to bear, as if driven by fate, Lena enters his life. Egan is now, and has always been afraid to open up to anyone. His private exchange with the dentist is brought up again later by his demanding sister. “Do you cry a lot, Barry?” she asks right in front of Lena when Barry first meets her. It is no wonder Barry is almost completely unable to have any kind of relationship with anyone (including his own family), but he gives it his best shot with Lena. He is doing surprisingly well making small talk when Lena asks about an embarrassing fact she heard from his sister. He excuses himself to the bathroom where he turns into Happy Gilmore again and tears the place apart. When they are kicked out of the restaurant, Egan offers no explanation, and Lena doesn’t need one. She smiles sweetly to herself as they walk down the street. For some strange reason, Lena truly likes Egan. She seems to be the only one able to get to the real Barry Egan. She uncovers a person not even he has seen.
Lena goes to Hawaii on a business trip and Egan becomes very antsy around the office. He liked the feeling he got when he was with Lena. He was able to trust her. She made him feel normal and not like the freak that his sisters told him he was (and forced him to become).
As Barry’s relationship with Lena grows, he goes through a metamorphoses. This change is made most apparent, interestingly enough, than through Egan’s violence. He has no more frustrated outbursts related to his overflowing anger. The one time we see any violence out of him is when a group of thugs crash into his car and hurt Lena. Egan gets out of the car and without breaking stride, drops all four of them. He is no longer clumsy and fumbling, but cool and calculated. As he says later in the film, he’s in love and it makes him “stronger than you could imagine”. Lena gives him the ability to make sense of his emotions and basically the ability to function.
