Scopitone Rising

Punch-Drunk Love plays a lot better for me now than when I originally saw it when it came out. I was inspired to re-watch it because my friend Ramses sent me an interesting article about the film from Senses of Cinema. The other factor that inspired me to revisit Punch-Drunk Love is the hoopla over the release of Paul Thomas Anderson new film There Will Be Blood.

Punch-Drunk Love is flawed by it’s very nature. The flights of fancy and whimsical moments in the film still throw me off, though I admittedly enjoy them. It’s also rather strange to see Adam Sandler so vulnerable in a motion picture. It’s still his career best.

A worthy film in a great auteur’s filmography. Punch-Drunk Love is the first film where Paul Thomas Anderson has abandoned his homage’s to Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese and announces that he will only be influenced by himself.