Life’s crises tend to happen “just once”. We invest in a “job coin” one time and lose a lot of money, or we get caught by our spouse cheating one time. Life seems to be telling us that we were never that person before. “Well, you did it once, didn’t you?”
The pain of Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) in Punch-Drunk Love (2003) stems from that “one time”. One night, he calls an adult-only phone number he stumbled across in a flyer and gives up all the personal information the caller asks for, including his credit card number.
The protagonist, Barry Egan, is a man who can’t say “no” easily. The bad guys recognize his weakness and try to take advantage of him. [Photo courtesy of Columbia Tristar].
The wicked recognize the weak
A person with an average level of discernment would not give out detailed personal information to an unknown person over the phone. Even those who make unreasonable demands on others will take a poke or two at the other person and back off if it doesn’t work. But the phone company asks Barry Egan for sensitive information as a matter of course, instinctively recognizing that he’s vulnerable.
Adam Sandler successfully conveys Barry Egan’s vulnerability through his quivering voice and unsteady gaze. [Photo courtesy of Columbia Tristar].
Just as a predator on the prairie can recognize a scurrying herbivore at a glance and know it’s time to feed, so too can the wicked, who make it their business to prey on others, recognize the weak at a glance. Like the victim who spills the beans to a phone scam posing as a prosecutor, Egan suspects something is amiss, but is disarmed by the caller’s imposing presence.
The next morning, he receives a call from the caller telling him that he doesn’t have the money to pay his rent and that he needs to pay it for him. It’s nearly a million won in Korean won. When Lee politely refuses, the caller bares his claws. “I should talk to your girlfriend, she has all your information.”
Philip Seymour Hoffman appears as the leader of the Ponting blackmail ring. He has a commanding presence in his brief appearance. [Photo courtesy of Columbia Tristar].
Seven female siblings, a repressed inner child.
Where did Lee’s inability to say “no” come from? The movie tries to trace it back to his family relationships. All seven of his sisters seem to like him, but they also seem to take him for granted. On the day of a family gathering, the sisters take turns calling him at work. They want to know if I’m coming. The intention is to make sure Ethan, who is often left out because he doesn’t have a number, is there, but they don’t take into account the fact that his siblings are in the middle of something.
When he shows up, the sisters make fun of him, referring to his childhood mistakes. Instead, Ethan’s face turns grim. He remembers getting in trouble for offending his sisters, so he’s not easily offended by their rudeness. The sisters are not malicious. They’re just stuck in a pattern of teasing and embarrassment. It’s hard to read the other person’s emotions in such a relationship.
His sister (left) shows up unannounced at his workplace. She wants to introduce her brother to a coworker (center). His siblings seem to care about him, but their attention to detail is lacking. [Photo courtesy of Columbia Tristar].
He wants to be at peace with everyone, so he holds it in, both at home and outside, which often leads strangers to think he’s a jerk. His pent-up anger manifests itself in erratic behavior: he breaks windows and vandalizes restaurant toilets. Glass windows and toilets have one thing in common: they don’t protest when they’re inconvenienced.
When he sees a promotion for airline miles for 안전놀이터collecting coupons for food companies, he attempts to collect 1 million miles by buying $3,000 worth of the cheapest puddings. His role in the episode goes beyond just showing his paranoia. He’s always been caught red-handed, and now he’s trying to catch someone else red-handed. He revels in the fact that he can exploit a loophole in a food company’s promotion to his advantage. Always being taken advantage of, he is satisfied that he can take advantage of someone’s weakness.
He’s excited to buy $3,000 worth of pudding and earn 1 million airline miles. [Photo courtesy of ColumbiaTriStar].
From caring about everyone’s feelings to focusing on his own
Egan’s struggles are multilayered and complex, but they all stem from a single cause. Growing up with seven DeSean sisters, he developed a tendency to avoid offending anyone as much as possible. He doesn’t want to create uncomfortable situations, so he rarely says “no” to others’ unreasonable demands. When an adult fonts company sees his weakness for hiding his teeth, they come to his neighborhood in droves, mocking him as a “pervert” and extorting money from him.
Adam Sandler has frequently portrayed a particularly unstable inner man. Examples include “Uncut Gems,” “Click,” and “Temperament. [Photo courtesy of Columbia Tristar].
The film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, has been relentless in his exploration of how childhood deprivation can wreak havoc on a person’s character. He is compassionate toward his characters, many of whom had unhappy childhoods, and at one point or another in the narrative, they find redemption. Some of the characters turn a blind eye to that light, but others recognize it and step out of their comfort zone.
Cinefresco has previously profiled director Paul Thomas Anderson through his films There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread. While those films conveyed the message that people who try to achieve infinite things can’t succeed in love, Punch Drunk Love suggests that people who try to please everyone can’t love anyone properly. Pictured is a scene from “Phantom Thread. [Photo credit=Universal Pictures].
Barry in “Punch Drunk Love