Punch-Drunk Love : A story of a guy with seven sisters

Gaurang   | Movies | August 13, 2009 at 2:07 am

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This is not a review of Punch-Drunk Love, but an articulation of the character arc of Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) in the film. This write-up also became a quest to understand the character more truly, deeply and clearly.

None of the reviews that I read fully understood the premise and the character of Adam Sandler in the film Punch-Drunk Love. So I just felt like articulating what’s the whole thing actually about. So here it goes. (Major Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Punch-Drunk Love, refrain from reading further. But please be sure to watch it, and then read the following)

“Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is not bordering mental illness, he himself might think so, but he isn’t. He is hyper-sensitive and hyper-conscious of himself in his own eyes as well as in others’. He wants attention but not the intent/nosy attention; instead he seeks a sort of casual attention. He is more comfortable with some phone sex girl than a regular cute girl(woman), who is interested in him. Not because he is a pervert, but because the regular cute girl(woman) is one of his seven sister’s good friend. So what? His sister is actually trying to set him up with that girl, which puts him into an infinitely uncomfortable situation. On the other hand the phone sex girl is a total stranger who is busy trying to do her seduction job while talking with Barry and casually, almost obligatorily asks him some generic questions, which Barry is more than happy to answer. He just wants to talk; he doesn’t even mind the listener’s lack of interest in the conversation, until the person refrains from asking intruding questions. Unlike majority of us, he doesn’t like to be asked personal questions by his near ones like “How are you feeling” or “Why do you look unhappy”. When asked such questions, he immediately becomes hyper-conscious of himself and of the probable contempt in the tone of the question. He starts imagining the things going on in the person’s mind (the one who asked), like “What does he/she think about me”, “Does she/he think I’m weird”, “He/she must be amused by me that what a big fuck up I am” and so on. And by any chance if he confides in some person, and comes to know that the person has shared all his pains/anxieties with other people, his consciousness would shoot through the roof and he would start tearing and breaking things apart in a fit of anger. Does that mean he needs anger management? I doubt. Surely he needs a shrink, but not because he is mentally unstable, but in the hope that the shrink understands him. People don’t understand him. He is not a weirdo, like Lars (by the way he is quite similar to Barry), who wants to be left alone in his own world. Like everyone else he too needs attention, but attention with respect, not sympathy.

He finds this respect in the eyes of Lena, who irritates the hell out of him on their first date. Maybe he loathes her for that, but when she calls him at her building’s security, while he is just about to leave her building, just to let him know that she wanted to kiss him, he senses that she actually wants him sans any hidden motive and with no pre-conceived notions about him. That is what love is, for him. And when she lies to his sister about having no idea where he is, all the while staring at him mischievously, he knows that he has indeed found his soul mate.

Barry is raised up amongst his seven sisters, which naturally brought too much undue attention making him conscious all the while that he is a freak odd one out. This gave rise to irritation followed by pressure relieving angry outbursts followed by more attention, more irritation and more outbursts. He uses Lies as a weapon to combat any undue intrusion. Whenever he wants to be rude, he lies.

But still after so many years, he hasn’t completely lost it. He hasn’t become a nihilist on a rampage. He is all the while self-aware, due to which some amount of self-contempt creeps in. But still he doesn’t give into self-pity. He just wants to meet someone who can understand him. When he fails to find that, he then wishes to just talk with anyone, absolutely anyone. But only without any irritation creeping in.”

I didn’t ‘get’ Magnolia. I completely missed the bus there. But Punch-Drunk Love rang very truly inside me. Maybe because I know a guy who has similar traits, in a very mild way, as Barry Egan. I had a point of reference. I never felt lost in the film.

Paul Thomas Anderson gives a surreal touch to the atmospherics, but still remains very focused on Barry Egan and follows very truly and closely the character arc.

The cinematography has a peculiar 3-D effect. The tracking shots as well as many still frames are charmingly and sometimes disturbingly immersive.
As I was not aware that this was a Paul Thomas Anderson film, I was pleasantly and overwhelmingly surprised by the film as I was expecting just a “better reviewed Adam Sandler comedy.” The film is a very sensitive character portrait which digs deep into Barry Egan’s head and finally liberates him with the help of ‘love’.

Tags: Adam Sandler, Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love

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