# Greatest Movies Of All Time - #98 Punch-Drunk Love **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731 "2003-10-31T21:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/1 "2003-10-31T21:41:42Z")
Disagree? Too bad, this is my list. A manic depressive sort of Opus from PTA, it manages to be a refreshing and heartening film while simultaneously being insidiously disturbing. Perhaps opus isn’t the word. It is a very personal and relaxed film after the gigantic masterpieces that were Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Who knew that Adam Sandler could really act? An awesome juxtaposition of urban alienation and surrealistic acid trips, Punch Drunk Love stands at #98. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/2 "2003-10-31T22:00:29Z")
Umm, are you going to treat us to 100 seperate threads of this? There have been many threads discussing the AFI top 100 movies of all time and top 100 dramas or whatever. There was also a thread asking people about their top 5 movies. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/3 "2003-10-31T22:01:01Z")
Those weren’t acid trips. Sandler’s character was a schizophrenic, and a lot of special effects were used to try and portray what a schizophrenic’s world is like. I thought it was an excellent movie. Sandler’s acting ability really suprised me. My chief complaint was that it was just a little too short. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/4 "2003-10-31T22:04:39Z")
You’ll get no argument here. It was my favorite film from last year for very personal reasons. My husband and I both loved it. Paul Thomas Anderson is a god. We’d never seen an Adam Sandler film, and didn’t have much desire to start, but it was not an “Adam Sandler film,” it was a PTA film, so we wouldn’t have missed it even if it starred Carrot Top. Luckily, it didn’t. I still have no desire to see any other Adam Sandler films, but I’ll always dearly love PDL. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/5 "2003-10-31T22:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > \*\*Umm, are you going to treat us to 100 seperate threads of this? There have been many threads discussing the AFI top 100 movies of all time and top 100 dramas or whatever. There was also a thread asking people about their top 5 movies. \*\* Yes. I intend to foster discussion on each of the 100 movies on my list. Problem? > [@](#): > > Those weren’t acid trips. Sandler’s character was a schizophrenic, and a lot of special effects were used to try and portray what a schizophrenic’s world is like. I know. I was referring to the musical interludes and other dreamlike sequences in a colloquial sense. I didn’t mean to infer that they were actually acid trips. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/6 "2003-10-31T22:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*Yes. I intend to foster discussion on each of the 100 movies on my list. Problem? \*\* Please don’t. [Helen Lovejoy] _Won’t someone please think of the servers!!!_ [/Helen Lovejoy] ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/7 "2003-11-01T00:47:14Z")
Over the period of two or three months? Damn. Take it up with the mods. ---
**Author:** ![Forty-Six\_Two](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@Forty-Six\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forty-Six_Two)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/8 "2003-11-01T06:07:35Z")
Punch Drunk Love is also the only film starring Adam Sandler I will watch. I also own the DVD… it’s a fantastic movie, though I’ve heard a lot of dissenting opinions. By the way… what was the significance of the little harpsichord-looking thing (I forget what it’s called)? They never explained that fully, though I got the idea that Adam Sandler’s character’s ability to play it is directly related to the amount of control he has over his actions/life. Am I way off? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/9 "2003-11-01T16:19:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Forty-Six&Two \* > \*\*Punch Drunk Love is also the only film starring Adam Sandler I will watch. > > I also own the DVD… it’s a fantastic movie, though I’ve heard a lot of dissenting opinions. > > By the way… what was the significance of the little harpsichord-looking thing (I forget what it’s called)? They never explained that fully, though I got the idea that Adam Sandler’s character’s ability to play it is directly related to the amount of control he has over his actions/life. Am I way off? \*\* It’s a MacGuffin of sorts. I think you are right about the second part, though. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/10 "2003-11-01T17:45:57Z")
Sandler was schizophrenic? I didn’t get that at all. He showed none of the symptoms. He wasn’t delusional and didn’t hallucinate or anything. I thought he was just manic-depressive. ---
**Author:** ![Fnoonf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Fnoonf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fnoonf)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/11 "2003-11-01T18:15:46Z")
Yeah **Forty-Six&Two** , I agree that the harmonium (the little piano) was a kind of symbol for Egan’s personal growth. At the end, when Watson comes over to Sandler and leans over to him when he’s sitting at the harmonium, and she goes “So now here we go,” I found that to be a very PTA-esque way of saying, basically, “The biggest rocks are out of the way and you can now begin molding yourself into a healthier person.” Could be way off, but that was my feeling. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/12 "2003-11-02T01:39:55Z")
I have yet to see a PTA film I didn’t like (although for some reason, I still haven’t seen **Hard Eight** ). In this film, Anderson does with Sandler something similar to what he did with Tom Cruise in **Magnolia** ; that is, take an actor with a somewhat predictable on-screen persona and create a compelling character built around, yet transcending that persona. **Ilsa** , I don’t mind your having 100 film threads; it will be much easier to occasionally comment on you favorites than to come up with a list of my own. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/13 "2003-11-02T06:42:40Z")
Hmm. I guess I’ll be the jerk who comes in and says “I think this film was overwrought, pointless and uninteresting.” Sorry, but if you’re fostering discussion, especially of a movie like this, the negative creeps in too. Sandler was fine, although in a sense I don’t think his character was so different from the ones he usually plays. Barry was essentially a child in a man’s body, and so are all of Sandler’s characters, what with the playfulness alternating with rage in a psychotic manner and such. But it’s interesting enough that this time it wasn’t entirely played for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/14 "2003-11-02T08:30:46Z")
I love **Punch Drunk Love** dearly and I agree that it was too short. I would’ve loved another half hour with Barry Eagan. PT Anderson is a master at inspired, unorthodox casting. Mark Wahlberg in **Boogie Nights** , Tom Cruise in **Magnolia** and Adam Sandler in **Punch Drunk Love** are three actors I never expected great performances from. I’d love to see Anderson direct Nicholas Cage in something. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movies-of-all-time-98-punch-drunk-love/210731/15 "2003-11-02T15:28:27Z")
It was pretty good. At times I even had tears for Barry (“Remember when we used to call you gay boy? and then your broke that window!”), but the movie would’ve been better without most of the background music. It stressed me out major. And anyone know why the girl (I forget her name, dammit) loved Barry and kept giving him second chances?