Gosh this is a good film, and about 100% weirder than I expected it'd be,
and,
gosh this is a weird film, and about 100% better than I expected it'd be.
Also: Adam Sandler (who would've thought it?).
Plus: Emily Watson (bonus!).
So I felt that there was a bit of the flavour of the Burned Children of America stories to Punch-Drunk Love - I was getting an A M Homes vibe while watching it (though I'm no longer sure how accurate that is), and maybe a wee bit of DeLillo (though that was mostly the hyper-real supermarket kitsch, I think). I was sitting there actually physically squirming with discomfort at points (the party scene, say) but also found myself laughing out loud, sometimes at the same points at which I was feeling most uncomfortable. For me, the film didn't really take off until Barry's sister (who most amusingly reminded me of someone who I'm not going to name here) and Lena visited the warehouse which doubles as Barry's office, and the romance really took centre stage, but from there, I was held suspended in a state of constant aghastness and enjoyment. It's pretty dark, but also very sweet.
Plus, at some point, about when "He Needs Me" was playing on the soundtrack, the 'love' thing hit and made me melt inside and feel a little wistful in the way that a good cinematic love story always will...
And at the end, I was touched. I'm pretty sure that I had a silly smile on my face as the credits rolled. I know that I felt a bit light-headed and off-balance for a while afterwards. Absurd, really. But some kind of wonderful.
