As always, potential spoilers ahead.
There’s a funny story I am going to relay to you. While promoting Magnolia in 2000, a reporter asked Anderson which actors he would like to work with. He replied, “Adam Sandler and Daniel Day-Lewis.” This, of course, elicited a laugh from the audience. Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis and The Waterboy star Adam Sandler? Little did the crowd know that Anderson was dead serious. Before Magnolia’s completion, Anderson planned to make a movie with Sandler as the lead. Anderson was impressed with his performance in Big Daddy and was sold on Sandler after he watched a sketch called “The Denise Show” on his “Best of” Saturday Night Live DVD. The sketch shows Sandler as a lonely man, begging his ex-girlfriend, Denise, to return to him. It also involved a scene where he yells at his dad over the phone after he calls him a disgrace. Anderson uses quiet sadness and an explosive temper as the main character traits of Barry Egan. Before he began writing, Anderson wanted to know Sandler was on board. Tom Cruise had Sandler’s number through his then-wife, Nicole Kidman, who hosted SNL when Sandler was there. Tom Cruise called Sandler and, despite having never seen Boogie Nights, gave him his blessing to write the film for him.
When Magnolia was released, Sandler was intimidated after seeing the finished film. His worries were alleviated only when Anderson hand-delivered the script to Sandler. Sandler’s casting was announced in November 2000, which baffled many in the industry. Here was Anderson, a young auteur, some may even describe as a wunderkind known for multicharacter epics, announcing his intention of making a small film with Sandler in the lead. Even Anderson’s producing partner, Joanne Sellar, had to be convinced of Sandler’s casting. An Academy Award-nominated British actress, Emily Watson, was cast as Lena Leonard, Barry’s love interest. Rounding out the cast were Mary Lynn Rajskub as Barry’s sister, Elizabeth, and frequent Anderson collaborators Luis Guzman as Barry’s co-worker, Lance, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dean, owner of the mattress store. Aside from a cameo by Robert Smigel as one of Barry’s brother-in-laws, the remainder of the cast was filled by non-professional actors.
There’s much to discuss, but let’s start with the writing. Anderson didn’t make a small, simple, and traditional love story. He couldn’t. He could make a small, simple love story, but Anderson isn’t conventional. There are the more traditional aspects, particularly with Barry. He’s socially anxious, content with his lack of a social life (for the most part), but his seven overbearing sisters suffocate him. Meeting Lena and falling in love could have been enough for the average viewer, but it wouldn’t have been as memorable. Instead, Anderson stirs into this love story, elements of phone sex and pudding. I have to take a moment to admire how absurd that line is. “Phone sex and pudding.” The storyline of Barry purchasing thousands of pudding cups because of an error in the marketing that would over-award frequent flyer miles shows us that Barry is intelligent, has some ambitions, and adds a bit of cookiness to the story. The phone sex storyline is every man’s worst nightmare: you call a phone sex line, and a worker tries to extort you. In 2025, those lines are almost non-existent with the advancement of the internet, but you still can’t help but cringe.
As an audience member, you feel extra bad for Barry because he had no ill intentions. He called simply because he was lonely. Add to this Philip Seymour Hoffman as the owner of the mattress store and manager of the sex line, who sends goons after Barry refuses to pay, and you get a powder keg. This gives it an element of danger and adventure. You can’t help but cheer when Barry beats the goons up and travels to Utah to threaten Hoffman’s character after the goons hurt Lena. “I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine,” Barry tells him.
Next, there is the style and aesthetic. The film is noteworthy for having the vibrant art of Jeremy Blake used as transitions. When I think of Punch-Drunk Love, those vibrant colors are the first thing that comes to mind. I also think about the contrast between low light and bright light. When we first meet Barry, he’s in his office. The lighting is a bit underexposed. Then he opens the garage door to his office, and we are flooded with the bright light of the Los Angeles sun. Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit find the perfect balance of overexposure without the images being blown out. In my opinion, it gives the film more of a romantic feel. I also believe that the drastic change in lighting, going from under to overexposed, helps to engage the audience better. Add to this the inherent darkness of the theater, and I can say it impacted me. The color palette is something to behold; there are too many blues and cool colors. The colors of Barry’s wardrobe and Lena’s wardrobe do a good job of juxtaposing the characters’ differences. Lena wears warm colors, most notably a red sweater, throughout. Barry wears cooler colors, most notably a blue suit, throughout.
Finally, let’s talk about casting. I have nothing to compare Emily Watson to, as I’ve seen her in nothing before or since, but she was perfect. She brings a depth and humanity to this woman who falls in love with Barry. She’s the only one who seems to be able to see Barry for the kind person he is. Not even Barry or his seven sisters can see what Lena sees. Luis Guzman, who had minor roles in Boogie Nights and Magnolia, does a great job as Barry’s second in command and basically his only friend, Lance. Philip Seymour Hoffman kills it in his limited screentime as Dean, the proprietor of the sex line, aka the “Mattress Man.” This was the most out-there performance Hoffman has given in an Anderson movie up to this point. As Scotty J in Boogie Nights, he played a quiet and heartbroken character. As nurse Phil Parma in Magnolia, he was a nice guy who wanted nothing but to make the final hours pleasant for his dying patient (Jason Robards).
I have to talk about Sandler. What a revelation. Barry, who is quiet and thoughtful, yet tends to burst out in fits of rage, is the antithesis of every loud, immature character he played before. I can’t speak for others, but I felt so moved by his performance. Barry is depressed and overwhelmed by his many sisters, but you can’t help but cheer when he finds love with Lena. I’m so glad that Anderson defied the critics and cast Sandler. I truthfully couldn’t imagine anyone else in the part. This is, hands down, my favorite performance by Adam Sandler. Sandler was nominated for his first Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, but lost to Richard Gere for Chicago.
A while back, I did a series on comedic actors who excel at drama, and one of my posts was about Sandler. Sandler can perform excellently when he applies himself—this film, the thriller Uncut Gems, and the basketball drama, Hustle, evidence this. Uncut Gems earned him the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor and talk of an Oscar nomination (this didn’t happen), and Hustle earned him a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. I wish Sandler would stick to these roles, but I don’t blame him for not doing so. Audiences have come to look forward to his mediocre films like The Do-Over or Happy Gilmore 2. If Netflix paid me millions of dollars to hang out with my friends and make subpar junk, I would. As of this writing, some Oscar buzz has surrounded Sandler for his role as George Clooney’s manager in Noah Baumbach’s next film, Jay Kelly. Baumbach directed him in the little-seen but charming Meyerowitz Stories, in which Sandler was also quite reasonable. Will Sandler ever earn an Oscar nomination? Only time will tell.
Despite the career best turn from Sandler, the film was a box office disappointment. It grossed $24.6 million worldwide from a $25 million budget. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive, but time has been kind to the movie. It is often listed as one of the best films of the 21st century (at least according to Wikipedia) and the film that proved Sandler to be a capable actor. If this film is considered one of the best of the 21st century, then Anderson would outdo himself on his next outing. It would take five years, but Anderson would return to the big screen with a vengeance with There Will Be Blood.
