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In a strangely effortless role, Emily Watson looks immaculate with her continually mesmerising eyes (have you seen Equilibrium? Her eyes are like lasers in that film!). She is honest with Barry straight away, and explains that she wanted to meet him after having seen a photo of him. It's not clear what her motives are, or why she's even attracted to him. But then maybe it is what it is, since you can't put science on that magical spark. Whatever it is, you can't always break down why you love someone (or something). You just do. However, that is an excuse this reviewer will never get away with. A little research will also unearth the bizarre theory that Lena is an alien (Chapter 12 on the DVD is titled ‘Alien Abduction').

There's just as much symbolism as The Passion of The Christ here. For example, a slew of exit signs at Lena's apartment building imply Barry's need for escape and collecting air miles. There's also the general colour scheme; Lena is wearing red when Barry first sees her, a colour which tends to denote something good here. Also Barry is wearing the same clothes, a blue suit, in all but two scenes. A move that would be insignificant in any other film, but gains meaning here due to the frequency of how often Barry wears it and how many times he is questioned about it. His sister Elizabeth says he doesn't usually dress like that, yet we the audience have no idea what Barry usually dresses like. In a touch of barely noticeable brilliance, as if taking an indirect hint, Barry's work partner Lance (played by Luis Guzman) also comes into work the next day wearing a remarkably similar suit, yet no-one comments on it.

Jon Brion's musical score also deserves a mention for being quite a headache. As garbled, disjointed noise, it expertly puts across just how stressed out Barry is, with numerous problems on his mind. It even makes cancelling and cutting a credit card excruciatingly epic.

The film cost $25 million, $7 million of which reportedly went to Sandler (the rest was likely spent on Healthy Choice Pudding). Opening on limited release in October on just five screens, it managed a strong take of just over $367,000 (the much talked about Bowling for Columbine also opened the same weekend on eight screens and took $209,000). Slowly expanding, it eventually went wide during the first weekend of November. On over a thousand screens it ranked as high as #8 taking slightly over $4 million. It unfortunately failed to turn a profit at the box office, ending its run with $17.8 million domestic and $24.6 million worldwide.

Punch-Drunk Love is an underrated gem, essentially the bad mouthing black sheep of what you'll usually find in the romantic section, and most people won't pick it up because of that reason. It's also one of the few that I can call unpredictable, but I guess that goes without saying when watching a Paul Thomas Anderson film.

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