Critic Reviews
Punch-Drunk Love (2002) Rank 3 Reviews
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based on (362) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
MovieMaze (Thomas Brendel)
Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Consistently interesting, always intelligent and provocative in the most unexpected of ways. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Baltimore City Paper (Eric Allen Hatch)
Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Deeply rich and strange new romantic comedy. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
San Francisco Chronicle (Carla Meyer)
CinemaSpeak.com (Curtis Raines)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Unlike Anderson's previous works, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE only revolves around one main character, Barry Egan, played by Adam Sandler. Sandler is a businessman with certain personal issues that make him very unhappy. He is socially inept and doesn't get out much ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Brian Oliver)
ToxicUniverse.com (Brandon Curtis)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Time (Richard Schickel)
There is something arresting about it too. The damned thing keeps gnawing at your mind -- if only for its almost perfect lack of conventional sentiment. Or movieness. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
LA Weekly (John Powers)
The movie winds up being his sunniest, for Anderson takes care to keep their love sweet, daffy and punch-drunk. This is a film in which that modern obsession, frequent-flier mileage, becomes proof of fidelity, and true intimacy is portrayed by a man ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at LA Weekly (John Powers)
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Poetry is perhaps the best way to think about Mr. Anderson's suave, exuberant balance of free-form inspiration and formal control. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Citysearch (Bill Pearis)
We're going to go out on a limb and say that Punch-Drunk Love will probably be the best movie ever to star Adam Sandler. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Citysearch (Bill Pearis)
eFilmCritic.com (Brian Mckay)
Why Adam Sandler Should Only Be Allowed to Star in Other People's Movies ... gives us something genuinely and pleasantly surprising ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Brian Mckay)
Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
Anderson and Sandler were meant for each other, and their romance is, unbelievably, our reward. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
With this, not only does the former frat clown become an actor to watch, Anderson confirms his reputation as one of America's and the world's preeminent moviemakers. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
Showbizz.net (Nicolas Lacroix)
Une des histoires d'amour les plus étranges à sortir du cinéma américain. Fans habituels de Sandler s'abstenir... à découvrir pour les autres. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Showbizz.net (Nicolas Lacroix)
Film Threat (Darrin Keene)
It works because of Anderson's ability to challenge viewer expectations. Instead of making his principal actors change, he manipulates the story and dialogue to match their characters. His exquisite art-house camera shots and sense of pacing set Sandler ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Film Threat (Darrin Keene)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Charming and outlandish by turns, this misfit love story of disconnected people trying to find one another in an antagonistic world is a comedy of discomfort and rage that turns unexpectedly sweet and pure. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Compared to the full-course meals that are Boogie Nights and Magnolia , Punch-Drunk Love is just an hors d'oeuvre. For Sandler, though, it's a Thanksgiving dinner. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
It's funny, too, though marked by an uneasy humor that's usually difficult to achieve. Anderson handles it with expert ease: At this point in his career, he moves the camera like a skilled dance partner, investing the smallest gesture with significance. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
The University Daily (Texas Tech University) (James Eppler)
By the end of the film, I immediately knew I liked it, but was unable to explain why. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at The University Daily (Texas Tech University) (James Eppler)
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
The outlandish story and exaggerated colors ... swirl together to create an ethereal, sometimes sinister dreamscape. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Newsweek (David Ansen)
Punch-Drunk Love is one dark, strange-tasting sorbet, its sweetness shot through with startling, unexpected flavors. It’s a romantic comedy on the verge of a nervous breakdown. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Newsweek (David Ansen)
Supercala.com (John Venable)
It's odd, interesting, and proves that love does conquer all...literally. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Supercala.com (John Venable)
Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
What Mr. Anderson wants to do is recapture, without nostalgia, the giddiness and sweep of old movies, and his mastery of the emotional machinery of the medium is breathtaking. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Mediasharx (Paul Fischer)
Filmchaw (Andrew Moxon)
Metro Times (Detroit, MI) (Anita Schmaltz)
...a visual song of vulnerability, with a rhythm vaulting from discord to harmony and back again in vibrating organic-colored tones, as if the whole film were breathing on its own. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Metro Times (Detroit, MI) (Anita Schmaltz)
Empire Magazine (--)
UTK Daily Beacon (David Blaylock)
CountingDown.com review (Larry Carroll)
CountingDown.com (Larry Carroll)
DVDnett.no
Bare for å ha sagt med en gang: Punch-Drunk Love er ikke en typisk Adam Sandler film. Og godt er det – synes jeg. Allikevel, rett skal være rett, Sandler kan sine ting - nemlig å være Adam Sandler. I Punch-Drunk Love tar han et sjeldent skritt ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at DVDnett.no
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
ninth symphony films
Monsters At Play (Lawrence P. Raffel)
Entertain Your Brain! - Review
JoBlo's Movie Emporium (JoBlo)
JackassCritics.com (Grim Ringler)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Quirky and stylish, but not in a manner that comes across as overly artsy or pretentious. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Punch Drunk Love represents a departure on the part of two key participants. For Adam Sandler, who portrays the film's protagonist, this is an attempt to play it straight, without falling back on antics, physical comedy, or silliness. For Paul Thomas Ande ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
The result is a treat for Sandler fans and a revelation for those of us who've spent the last decade wondering what on earth his appeal is. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Shannon Patrick Sullivan
Tail Slate (Daryl J. Grove)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
One of the most inventive offerings so far this season. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
San Francisco Chronicle (Carla Meyer)
Sweet-natured, meticulously observed love story. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Carla Meyer)
Toronto Life (--)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Adam Sandler fans need to be warned in advance: You really have no idea what you're in for.
That's because, unlike the majority of his film work, Sandler had no input in the screenplay for "Punch-Drunk Love." Instead, he ceded control to ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Director Paul Thomas Anderson hasn't reinvented Sandler; he's just allowed those of us who tired very quickly of his innocent naif shtick to see how effectively it can be put in the service of something to care about. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
A weirdly sweet little love story set in waltz time and filmed as a study in contrast: light and dark, order and chaos, delicate music and ear-bending noise. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Many people have noticed the anger underneath Sandler's goofball smile -- but Anderson understands that below that anger is a gooey caramel center, which gushes forth nicely in the most sentimental moments of Anderson's confection. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
La Presse, Montréal (--)
Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
The lasting value of the movie, the element that confirms Anderson as the most provocative and excitingly aggravating of young American filmmakers, is the way it clambers inside you and punches away at the walls of whatever box you live in. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Punch-Drunk Love knows how to reap epic delight from the most precious of details. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
At its best, the film proves that irrepressibly smart Anderson and insistently dumb Sandler were a good match from the start. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Tail Slate (Daryl J. Grove)
Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
No film this year has offered quite the cerebral tickle, weird invention and slaphappy gusto as Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love . ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
This is a film with great heart by a filmmaker with terrific style and an actor with undeniable chops. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
Hollywood Stock Brokerage & Resource (Tim Chandler)
One of the finest romances written for film in at least a decade. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Hollywood Stock Brokerage & Resource (Tim Chandler)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Anderson's film beautifully captures the joy and tentativeness of new love. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
TheBoxSet.com - Complete Movie/DVD Review
Remember the show Love, American Style? Well, let's call this film Love, Dysfunctional Style. Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film is not only a romantic comedy but also clocks in at a breezy 95 minutes. That's new territory for him on both fronts, ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at TheBoxSet.com - Complete Movie/DVD Review
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Todd Anthony)
Punch-Drunk Love mostly feints and jabs; by Anderson's standards it's strictly lightweight. But Sandler delivers the kind of knockout performance that even his staunchest defenders probably didn't realize he had in him. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Todd Anthony)
Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
In the end, Punch-Drunk Love is one of those films that I wanted to like much more than I actually did. Sometimes, that's enough. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
A romantic comedy that operates by the rules of its own self-contained universe. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
[Sandler] plays Barry just as he would any of the comic dolts who've made him rich but this time all the panicky sadness is out where we can see it. It's a honey of a performance: controlled, achingly human, and funny in the deepest ways. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Box Office Prophets
The Hot Button (David Poland)
Movie Matt's Reviews
Deranged Video Dude (Robert Wurth)
Crosswalk.com Movies (Holly McClure)
LeisureSuit Media
MovieJustice (Pat Toner)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Thoughts on Stuff
DVDwolf (Rob Paul)
There are a lot of things that irked me about Punch Drunk Love when I checked it out at the Toronto Film Festival this year aside from the fact that it was being called a romantic comedy…I will rant on this misnomer later.
1) People were chuckling ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at DVDwolf (Rob Paul)
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
Reel Criticism - Honest Reviews!
Celluloid Heroes (Paul McElligott)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
TNMC (John "Batman" Shea)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
CultureDose.net (Lee Chase IV)
Almost Fabulous Movie Reviews
Movie Criticism for the Retarded
CultureDose.net (Brandon Curtis)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
We expect that actors in the films we watch know how to act. We hope, sometimes against hope, that the directors in charge know how to get the best performances out of their actors and how to edit those performances together to tell a clean and concise ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
The Filmsnobs (James Owen)
3 Black Chicks Review Flicks
filmdeculte.com (Nicolas Bardot)
The Trades (Frances Anne Banner)
Movie-Vault.com (David Trier)
3 Black Chicks ("Cass")
Film Monthly (Mike Julianelle)
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
DVD Town (Dean Winkelspecht)
TNMC (Drew "Dr. Strangelove" Morton)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Cineclub-Filmkritik
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digitallyOBSESSED.com (Dan Heaton)
MovieEye.com (Jenny Piston)
B Fatt. & Lazy Movie Reviews
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
The strangest thing about writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's unusual romantic comedy is how much of it is based on a true story. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
A startling achievement, but its lack of psychological dimension prevents it from making much human contact with us. It ends where it begins: in a state of shock. ...read the complete Punch-Drunk Love movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
DVD Net (Anthony Horan)
Reel.com (Rod Armstrong)
Criminy Pete's Knee Jerk Spoilers