Ranking The Films Of Paul Thomas Anderson From Worst To Best

Punch-Drunk Love was easily Adam Sandler's best performance for a long time before he went nuts in Uncut Gems. At the time, Sandler as a serious actor was a highly unbelievable suggestion and he surprised many with his dedicated performance as the mentally troubled Barry Egan in PTA's romantic dramedy.

Barry Egan is a social outcast with seven sisters who makes the mistake of phoning a sex chat line run by a dodgy mattress salesman who tries to take all of his money in a scam. At the same time, Emily Watson's Lena finds Barry intriguing and wishes to get to know him. This is Punch-Drunk Love.

Compared to his other works, this feels like a particularly small scale film for PTA to tackle. It can be funny and even delivers moments of shock on occasion but overall, Sandler's untapped potential as a dramatic actor is the highlight here.

The main negative here is Lena. Although you can believe the attraction by the end, it can be hard to buy that Lena would be so determined to date Barry when he has shown zero interest in her and is rather stand-offish to begin with. We don't know much about her and that's a shame considering character development is one of PTA's main strengths.