Punch-Drunk Love comes from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson -- one of my favorite filmmakers with such movies as Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia under his belt. When word got out that he was starring Adam Sandler (of Mr. Deeds and Big Daddy fame) in Punch-Drunk Love, understandably many, including me, were surprised -- and concerned. Anderson’s films are serious pieces of work; Sandler’s films are not. But in the past Anderson has coaxed wonderful performances out of Mark Wahlberg, Tom Cruise, and Burt Reynolds, so with that kind of track record most of us put our faith in him to turn out something good. And he has.

Sandler plays Barry Egan, a shy and unassuming small-business owner. He's not wealthy, but seems to do well enough and thinks things are really going to start going his way when he "diversifies" -- a boast he makes to a phone-sex operator that he quickly regrets. Egan also has seven sisters who henpeck him to death. At times they are seemingly loving; at other times they are cruel. So when there’s a party, each one systematically calls him to ensure he’s coming, something he loathes doing and we see why the moment he arrives. They ridicule him, never let him forget the stupid things he did in his past, and they want an explanation for his every present and future action. As a result, he’s burning up inside, yearning to be left alone, and that makes him prone to violent outbursts, usually against inanimate things like bathroom fixtures and windows.

Egan’s odd, and by any measure no catch, but Lena Leonard (Emily Watson) is interested in him and appears to look beyond his quirkiness and accept him as he is. At first Egan’s surprised, but then accepts the fact that she genuinely likes him and does everything in his power to keep her -- including completing a scheme that he has going that involves buying massive amounts of Healthy Choice pudding, which will allow him to collect one million air miles so he can fly for free for life. Absurd? Not in an P.T. Anderson film.

Most will categorize Punch-Drunk Love as a love story -- and it is -- but Anderson, with his knack for writing richly detailed characters and putting them into edgy situations, takes this story in unexpected ways. He throws many roadblocks in their path, most notably the phone-sex operation bent on extorting money from Egan. It’s these turns that allow Punch-Drunk Love to defy simple categorization and make it so memorable.

I suspect those thinking they’re going to see a typical Sandler or Anderson film will be quite taken back by what’s presented here. Having Punch-Drunk Love clock in at a brisk 89 minutes is a wise move by Anderson -- a radical departure from the three-hour-plus Magnolia. And Sander gives Egan surprising depth that, to my knowledge, he’s never shown in a film before. At the end, Punch-Drunk Love might have you scratching your head a bit -- as did Magnolia and Hard Eight and even Boogie Nights -- but I’ll guarantee that you’ll think about it long after you leave the theater. Punch-Drunk Love, a welcome departure from Hollywood formula films, gets a **** rating.

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