Punch-Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson in to film what like Picasso is to painting, disjointed, abstract, and hard to decipher. Most conventional viewers won't understand him, and a large number of seasoned viewers won't accept him for various reasons, because he is not classical enough and regrettably has the unfortunate quality that his films always seem to have something "more", but that's not always true, which is exactly the case here. Sandler is excellent. (21.04.2015)

Paul Thomas Anderson and I probably won't ever be close friends. I don't enjoy his films for their pace or concept. Adam Sandler shows that he can act, and I'm glad for that, but even with his presence, I couldn't quite get into the film. The long, tedious shots just didn't engage me, even though at times I thought the story was unfolding quite unexpectedly. (24.06.2014)

Magnolia tore me up emotionally and Boogie Nights entertained me fantastically. But Punch-Drunk Love – regardless of how innovatively and imaginatively it was directed – didn’t move me at all. It’s a spectacularly stylized void, both emotionally and intellectually. (03.01.2003)

I love P.T. Anderson's films and consider him a genius, but this is a step backwards. A brilliant directorial, genre-unclassifiable flick, but the plot is absolutely nothing, without any emotions or deeper message. There are a few promisingly conceived motifs, when I thought "this could be interesting", but before he can elaborate on them Anderson suddenly cuts them off, doesn't finish them and leaves a strange aftertaste on the tongue of the film gourmet. I'm not saying it has to work that way for other viewers, but it did for me, and with the beginning of the closing credits I realized that the film didn't really give me anything at all, although I love this kind of cinematic escapades. PS: I wasn't expecting it, but Sandler was excellent and his irresistible declaration of love in Hawaii made me laugh out loud. (07.02.2006)

Drunk with confusion. Sometimes the line between a peculiar comedy and a strange attempt at one is just too thin. Paul Thomas Anderson was going after the one for so long that he ended up taking a few steps towards the other. I was looking for the promised romance of a lifetime, believable performances, and the feeling of finding myself. Instead, I just got lost. (17.07.2005)