Oct. 25, 2002 - 11:23 pm
finally the newest Paul Thomas Anderson film came to Knoxville. as with just about every movie i've wanted to see recently, this one came out in limited release and we began to wonder if my town in TN would even be graced with a showing. anyway, it did come to town and of course it was really awesome.
this movie stars Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. basically Adam Sandler is a very confused guy who is on the edge of a lot of different things. he has a sometimes violent temper, sometimes he cries like a baby, he's afraid of meeting people (especially girls), and sometimes he's just the nice guy who's trying to make a living. the movie mostly focuses on a few key days in his life when he meets the girl of his dreams.
i like Paul Thomas Anderson's decision not to put credits at the beginning of his films. and this lucky man apparently has Fiona Apple as his girlfriend. i'll bet you thought those two statements were unrelated didn't you?
i think before you go into this movie, in order to appreciate it, you have to try to forget as much about Adam Sandler and his previous work as is possible. now there's no way that you can forget him completely, but try and it will help. his character here is very complicated and if you go into it assuming that he's always being funny, you'll miss a lot of material. this is by far the best performance Adam Sandler has ever done.
another thing that helps, just with watching Paul Thomas Anderson films in general, is to realize that there will be some concrete events which occur during the story, that just don't make much sense. sometimes things happen inexplicably and affect the lives of the characters in sometimes very meaningful ways, sometimes in very meaningless ways. you just have to accept that and go with it in order to enjoy what you're seeing.
i'll have to say that this is also the first film that i've really liked Emily Watson in. her character was finally someone that was likeable. nice to see for a change.
i really love what the director was able to do with Adam Sandler in this movie. he draws you into the confused character so completely, that you start feeling all sorts of uncomfortable emotions...but in a good way. like when Barry is being repeatedly made fun of by his sisters and they're calling him gay, talking about him like he wasn't even there, and then talking about how he flipped out one time when he was a kid...it makes you want to flip out yourself. and then that's exactly what Barry does for you onscreen, breaking the sliding glass doors just as he did when he was a kid.
this movie really made me run through a series of intense emotions in a way that most films aren't capable of. it's good stuff. you should see it.