“The Anti-Forrest Gump”: Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic comedy hits theaters

Hitting theaters just 20 years ago in January 2003, Punch-Drunk Love is undoubtedly the most obscure work from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. After Before There’s Blood and Magnolia, two amazing monumental murals, the director has staged this punch-drunk love, a surprising romantic comedy.

The story introduces us to Barry Egan, played by Adam Sandler. He is an entrepreneur who was smothered by his seven sisters since childhood. He feels a breath of fresh air when one of his colleagues, Lena, comes to meet him. But, at the same time, the bell girl, whom he called to try to escape his loneliness, turns him into a trap. He will take life in his hands for the first time.

Unbelievable, but true

It may seem extraordinary and surreal, but this is a real story that is the origin of the Punch-Drunk Love project. Paul Thomas Anderson was inspired by an article published in Time in 2001. It told the story of David Phillips, a civil engineer from the University of California who was involved in an air travel promotion.

She collected coupons for 12,150 cans of Healthy Choice pudding. Thus, “Pudding Guy” won two million kilometers by plane with only 3000 dollars investment! David Phillips was the model for Barry Egan’s character.

After a large-scale project, Magnolia, a choral film that lasted 3 hours, Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to make a shorter and more intimate film that focused on one main character. So Barry Egan’s camp called director Adam Sandler

The artist wrote his script specifically for the actor, dreaming that he was playing something. The Punch Drunk Love director is a huge fan of the actor, whom he finds extremely funny in all situations. Note that Paul Thomas Anderson also had Emily Watson in mind when writing his screenplay.

Moreover, in addition to the lead roles, the Punch Drunk Love team consists of many non-professional performers who have agreed to participate in the film. This is the case, for example, of Barry Egan’s (Adam Sandler) 7 sisters or four stalkers.

The latter are really brothers in life. Likewise, 4 of the 7 sisters in the movie are actually related. With this light and unusual novel, Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

cleaning conventions

In this sense, he approached the romantic comedy, trying to clear all the conventions of the genre. His main goal was to make an entertaining and surprising film in which the audience would never guess what would happen next.

This taste for experimentation continued on set. The whole team didn’t hesitate to shoot the scenes in several different ways, even if it meant that a lot of things were cut out during editing.

Punch-Drunk Love won Paul Thomas Anderson the Best Director Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. His previous film Magnolia won the Golden Bear at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Unfortunately, Punch-Drunk Love was a commercial failure despite excellent reviews. It will gross only $24 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $25 million.

Boring and unpleasant work

In France, the production will draw 326,000 spectators, about the same score as Magnolia and its 333,000 tickets sold. Le Monde qualifies Punch-Drunk Love as a movie “Strange and charming, yet delicately poetic.” In turn, L’Express will awaken the novel “Boring, strange and poetic.”

As for journalist Olivier Pellisson, he praises Adam Sandler, “Amazing in the anti role Forrest Gumpand Emily Watson and Philip Seymour Hoffman It’s great.” The film will also appeal to Positiv, the film reference magazine. “Punch-Drunk Love is a thrilling film, and it’s not often you see such well-acted comedies.”

The premiere will even go to a prestigious comparison: “Bet Punch-Drunk Love would be what Adam Sandler would be Romanian show was Jim Carrey“, claims the magazine. If Paul Thomas Anderson’s work has not become as popular as Peter Weir’s feature film, it is still just as surprising and extraordinary.

Note that the expression “punch-drunk” is a term used to refer to a boxer who is disoriented by his opponent’s punches. Punch-Drunk Love hits theaters on August 9.