Lewy sercowy

Magnolia tore me up emotionally and Boogie Nights entertained me fantastically. But Punch-Drunk Love – regardless of how innovatively and imaginatively it was directed – didn’t move me at all. It’s a spectacularly stylized void, both emotionally and intellectually. (03.01.2003)

I love P.T. Anderson's films and consider him a genius, but this is a step backwards. A brilliant directorial, genre-unclassifiable flick, but the plot is absolutely nothing, without any emotions or deeper message. There are a few promisingly conceived motifs, when I thought "this could be interesting", but before he can elaborate on them Anderson suddenly cuts them off, doesn't finish them and leaves a strange aftertaste on the tongue of the film gourmet. I'm not saying it has to work that way for other viewers, but it did for me, and with the beginning of the closing credits I realized that the film didn't really give me anything at all, although I love this kind of cinematic escapades. PS: I wasn't expecting it, but Sandler was excellent and his irresistible declaration of love in Hawaii made me laugh out loud. (07.02.2006)

Punch Drunk Love will not inebriate you, but it will put you in a good mood, even despite of Sandler. It will improve your mood just a little, but it will. (16.03.2005)

Drunk with confusion. Between a peculiar comedy and a strange attempt at it, there lies sometimes a too thin line. Anderson followed it for so long, until he took a few steps towards the other possibility. I was looking for the promised life romance, believable performances, and the feeling of finding myself. Instead, I got lost. (17.07.2005)

Paul Thomas Anderson in to film what like Picasso is to painting, disjointed, abstract, and hard to decipher. Most conventional viewers won't understand him, and a large number of seasoned viewers won't accept him for various reasons, because he is not classical enough and regrettably has the unfortunate quality that his films always seem to have something "more", but that's not always true, which is exactly the case here. Sandler is excellent. (21.04.2015)

Paul Thomas Anderson and I will probably never be close friends. I don't really enjoy his films due to their pace and concept. Adam Sandler shows in this piece that he can act, and I'm glad for that, but despite his presence, I could not get into the movie. The long, boring shots just didn't captivate me, even though at times I thought that the story was developing quite unexpectedly. (24.06.2014)

For P.T. Anderson an unusually short running time, but the enormous potential of this film has been exploited to the hilt. This is no longer "just" (it must be added that this "just" will forever remain a mystery to most filmmakers) a brilliant script supported by extremely imaginative direction, but one of the most impressive films I have ever seen, one with extraordinary charm and enormous heart. In the moments when Barry (Adam Sandler not only surprises but plays his role superbly) suppresses a huge amount of anger, helplessness, and revulsion, I felt a little (a lot) like that – it just blew me away because there is so much feeling and emotion in it I couldn't even manage to "live out" three times :)) (15.02.2010)