Punch-Drunk Love
The Players: Adam Sandler, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Watson, Luis Guzman.
The Skinny: Barry, the socially impaired owner of a novelty toilet plunger business, contacts a phone sex operator in an attempt to resolve his loneliness. The operator sends some thugs on a mission from Utah to California, to follow, scare, and extort Barry. He becomes desperate, until a new door opens in his life: one of his sisters fixes him up with a lovely young English woman, Lena. It seems Barry is ready to do whatever it takes to have a shot at true romance.
The Bottom Line: One of the most talked-about films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it nabbed best director honors, Punch-Drunk Love is getting pretty good word-of-mouth. Here, funnyman Adam Sandler trades in regular his low-comedy routine for a more dramatic role without losing his underdog appeal.
Opens: October 11, 2002
