Punch Drunk Love

So I finally saw Punch Drunk Love.

It doesn't look like the typical PTA movie--for much of the film the camera sits still or moves slowly in long takes where the focus is on Sandler's body language. That looks like the best idea PTA has--to take Sandler's schtick and look at it as the motions of a painfully lonely man. Not too many loud pop songs, mostly discordant music used--gasp--tactfully, and not many musical sequences to fill in the dead air.  PTA actually seems to have something to say here, and his focus on only one character allows him to develop something of a story and an evolving protagonist.

That said, there are some things about the movie that are absurd--what on earth would Emma Watson see in this guy?  She's attractive, she can plainly see that there's something freakishly wrong with him--why does she stick with him?  I suppose I can buy her going for him, but it better be a good reason, and I'm just not being given the reason.

And how can a guy like Sandler, disfunctional as he is, own a business, manage employees?  Where did he get the money? Was it an inheritance?  I can't believe a bank officer would approve his application for a loan.  He actually has a business--when he first mentions this, I at first thought it was a lie--and he seems to be making money, or at least have plenty of it, what with the flight to Hawaii and the flight (I assume it's a flight) to Utah, but I just can't believe someone that introverted and dysfunctonal can be a viable entrepreneur.  Romantic comedies do tend to stretch crediblity but even Bringing Up Baby wasn't this unbelievable (Hepburn may obsess over Grant the moment she meets him, but hey, it's Cary Grant).

Otherwise--yeah, it's fun, it's easily the best Sandler I've ever seen, and maybe the first PTA I've really liked.