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Punch-Drunk Love
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 37
  3. Negative: 2 out of 37
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  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    100
    With its feverish, percussive soundtrack and bravura cinematography, is like a bolt from the blue, chock-full of unexpected delight.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    100
    Anderson orchestrates a comic romance like no other. The effect is intoxicating. Sandler and the movie will knock you for a loop.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    100
    Through this miasma of pain and suffering, love may not flicker more strongly than a dim lamp. But it's the only beacon to consider. Can Barry find his? Thanks to Anderson's assured picture, a symphony of cinematic textures, that disarmingly simple question becomes incredibly compelling.
  4. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    91
    Anderson delivers a satisfyingly quirky, cinematically masterful valentine that contains more seeds of truth about the human heart than a hundred big fat Greek comedies.
  5. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Charles Taylor
    90
    Something we haven't seen before: a manic-depressive romantic comedy that aspires to the soul of a musical. It's a new-fashioned love song.
  6. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    90
    I found it exquisite. In part I responded out of sheer amazement: I've never seen anything like the sequences in which Sandler, in his boxy, sea-blue suit, charges around his warehouse to the rhythm of Brion's harsh drums.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    90
    Entirely unpredictable and marked by audacious strokes of directorial bravado.
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    The film is exhilarating to watch because Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor.
  9. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    An Adam Sandler movie with class, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, so be it. The movie is a happy nightmare of silly-smart movie comedy that defies category - and challenges expectations involving Sandler and his pictures.
  10. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    88
    It's a small victory, but Punch-Drunk Love knows how to reap epic delight from the most precious of details.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    88
    Whether Adam Sandler can actually act is not actually answered in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love. But he's great in it.
  12. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    88
    Despite its title, Punch-Drunk Love is never heavy-handed. The jabs it employs are short, carefully placed and dead-center.
  13. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    It's a honey of a performance: controlled, achingly human, and funny in the deepest ways.
  14. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    88
    No film this year has offered quite the cerebral tickle, weird invention and slaphappy gusto.
  15. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    Deeply rich and strange new romantic comedy.
  16. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Darrin Keene
    80
    It works because of Anderson's ability to challenge viewer expectations. Instead of making his principal actors change, he manipulates the story and dialogue to match their characters. His exquisite art-house camera shots and sense of pacing set Sandler up to do his usual thing in an almost poetic manner.
  17. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    80
    A startling achievement, but its lack of psychological dimension prevents it from making much human contact with us. It ends where it begins: in a state of shock.
  18. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: John Powers
    80
    The movie winds up being his sunniest, for Anderson takes care to keep their love sweet, daffy and punch-drunk. This is a film in which that modern obsession, frequent-flier mileage, becomes proof of fidelity, and true intimacy is portrayed by a man telling his lover, "I'm sorry I beat up the bathroom."
  19. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    80
    It's funny, too, though marked by an uneasy humor that's usually difficult to achieve. Anderson handles it with expert ease: At this point in his career, he moves the camera like a skilled dance partner, investing the smallest gesture with significance.
  20. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    80
    Anderson and Sandler were meant for each other, and their romance is, unbelievably, our reward.
  21. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    Charming and outlandish by turns, this misfit love story of disconnected people trying to find one another in an antagonistic world is a comedy of discomfort and rage that turns unexpectedly sweet and pure.
  22. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    80
    Poetry is perhaps the best way to think about Mr. Anderson's suave, exuberant balance of free-form inspiration and formal control.
  23. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    80
    Punch-Drunk Love is one dark, strange-tasting sorbet, its sweetness shot through with startling, unexpected flavors. It’s a romantic comedy on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
  24. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    80
    There is something arresting about it too. The damned thing keeps gnawing at your mind -- if only for its almost perfect lack of conventional sentiment. Or movieness.
  25. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    80
    Difficult too, and certainly problematic, but it's sometimes quite wonderful. Do see it if you're curious about one-of-a-kind films, and if you care about the ever-evolving career of one of our most gifted filmmakers.
    All this critic's reviews
  26. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    80
    The outlandish story and exaggerated colors ... swirl together to create an ethereal, sometimes sinister dreamscape.
  27. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    One of the most inventive offerings so far this season.
  28. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    75
    Sweet-natured, meticulously observed love story.
  29. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    Quirky and stylish, but not in a manner that comes across as overly artsy or pretentious.
  30. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    75
    The result is a treat for Sandler fans and a revelation for those of us who've spent the last decade wondering what on earth his appeal is.
  31. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    70
    The strangest thing about writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's unusual romantic comedy is how much of it is based on a true story.
  32. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    Unconventional and idiosyncratic love story.
  33. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Paula Nechak
    67
    Sandler and Watson make something out of their underwritten roles, and that they do is testament to their talents: They make this punchy romantic comedy more engaging than it should be.
  34. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    50
    As elegantly crafted as it often is, Anderson's movie is essentially a one-trick pony that, hampered by an undeveloped script, ultimately pulls up lame.
  35. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    I wouldn't have minded even the Hollywood schlock lurking behind the studied weirdness if I'd believed in any of the characters on any level.
  36. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    38
    Punch-Drunk Love buries a terrific performance by Adam Sandler under a heap of faux cleverness, meaningless symbolism and irritating mannerisms.
  37. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    Essentially a weird series of nonsequiturs. I'd rather be watching a sequel to the much-maligned "Little Nicky" -- a Sandler film that was at least trying to do something interesting -- than this failed experiment in fusing high and low culture.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 157 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 58 out of 104
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 104
  3. Negative: 41 out of 104
  1. DrewD.
    10
    It is really a testament to the sadness of America that half of them cannot appreciate a film like this. Most of them just think it is dumb--they say it is "disjointed" or that the leads have "no chemistry". This is what doing nothing but watching TV and standard Hollywood films does to your brain: you can't understand real human relationships (which are not "explainable" and are in fact "random", at least for most of us), you can't empathize with those who clearly have some sort of disorder, and can't figure out the unity of an actually pretty straightforward film, by artistic cinematic standards. Then, perhaps even worse, there are a group who recognize that they can't understand the film, but are too proud to admit it and accuse the film of being "pretentious" and full of "fake symbolism". I am not surprised though, that those who were expecting a standard Adam Sandler film, where you are supposed to laugh at someone who is different, didn't like this film, where you are supposed to feel for someone who is different. A shame.… Full Review »
  2. BKM
    6
    Punch-Drunk Love is a bit of a tricky film to figure out, but I think that it is ultimately worth the effort. Adam Sandler gives one of his most nuanced and mature performances as a man who is barely in control of his emotions and is out of step with society. Emily Watson plays the woman who ultimately provides him with a sense of strength and stability by simply loving him. It's a bit too quirky and artsy to be a fully satisfying viewing experience, but its hard not to admire its off-kilter heart.… Full Review »
  3. j30
    10
    Beautiful movie by one of the best directors today. You can hardly believe that this is Adam Sandler playing the title role. He plays Barry Egan, a lonely, socially awkward man who falls in love with one of his sisters co-workers. His character has more depth than any character he's played up to this point, combined! You can't take your eyes off of the screen.… Full Review »
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