The Official Punch-Drunk Love Quotes thread [Archive]

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Tom Chick

10-11-2002, 03:07 PM

I think it's only opened to a very limited release, so most of you probably won't be able to play, but I'll go ahead and start us out:

"I have seven of them..."

-Tom

Bub, Andrew

10-12-2002, 02:43 PM

Um... sorry to interrupt the cacophony, is movie good Tom? Trailer looks very good.

Tom Chick

10-12-2002, 03:09 PM

is movie good Tom?

Yes, movie good. Very. Only playing in two theatres in LA now. Movie in more theatres next week.

What does the trailer show, BTW?

-Tom

Bub, Andrew

10-12-2002, 03:37 PM

Probably too much, they tend to do that.
Um... Sandler is sweet yet insecure. Asks his dentist for medical advice. Has several sisters who harass him. Meets phone sex operator who starts harassing him. Meets yummy Emily Watson. Romance in the key of quirk. Slimy but brilliant PSHoffman antagonizes. Triumph of the little Sandler? Oh, Guizman is briefly shown, yet I'm willing to bet he's great in the picture. Plays a friend to our hero?
It's online.

And yes, soon as it hits Milwaukee, I'm there.

Tom Chick

10-12-2002, 03:54 PM

Warning: spoilers! Don't read this if you haven't seen the fucking trailer!

I mean it, dammit! Go read a thread about anime or something.

Um... Sandler is sweet yet insecure.

Okay, no spoilers there...

Asks his dentist for medical advice.

Ouch. Great scene spoiled.

Has several sisters who harass him.

Ouch. One of my favorite lines in the movie is now fucked up.

Meets phone sex operator who starts harassing him.

Ouch. Great unforeseen development spoiled.

Meets yummy Emily Watson. Romance in the key of quirk.

No great spoiler there.

Slimy but brilliant PSHoffman antagonizes.

I loved not even knowing he was in it. There's a cool reveal with him.

Triumph of the little Sandler? Oh, Guizman is briefly shown, yet I'm willing to bet he's great in the picture. Plays a friend to our hero?

Okay, no great spoilers there.

Overall, though, I would be pretty annoyed at having seen the trailer. One great joke, one plot twist, and one great reveal are completely fucked up for you. But, yes, see it. Easily the best thing I've seen since The Royal Tenenbaums.

It's a brilliant piece of moviemaking, an amazing script, and a stellar Adam Sandler performance. And I know that last one sounds particularly farfetched.

-Tom

Met_K

10-12-2002, 04:14 PM

Geez, Tom, next thing you'll be telling us is that if Chris Farley was still alive he would've morphed into the greatest actor since Marlon Brando. Are you sure there's not subliminal messages reading: "No, please, take us seriously. Adam can act. Damnit, stop laughing. Come on, give him a chance. Come on! Okay, Water Boy was pretty funny... hey! No! Really! Look! He's acting right now! HELLO! He's acting! A-c-t-i-n-g! P.T. Anderson says he can act! Look! P.T. Anderson knows all! He's the guy who showed that Tom Cruise can act!... Sometimes!... While playing a sex-crazed motivational speaker!... In one role in his life!... Oh, fuck, I'm done trying."

I'm convinced you're not the real Tom Chick. Unless, of course, you are The Real Tom Chick (tm) and Adam Sandler -can- actually act in this movie... oh god, another sign of the apocalypse. Forget snipers and suicide bombers, the worst SNL actor of all time actually... making... good movies? Run for your lives!

:)

wumpus

10-12-2002, 06:07 PM

Easily the best thing I've seen since The Royal Tenenbaums.
Oh, no.

Tom Chick

10-12-2002, 06:45 PM

I know the Adam Sandler angle sounds weird. Believe me, I was pretty dismayed when I heard that PT Anderson was doing "an Adam Sandler movie".

I don't really know how to make sense of it other than to say I remember when Adam Sandler was on Saturday Night Live and you could see glimpses of this sort of boyish honesty in what he was doing. Anderson keeps the focus on that in Punch-Drunk Love and it works.

I read a review of Mr. Deeds in which the reviewer said every role Sandler does seems like he just rolled out of his trailer onto the set without even changing clothes. But that's definitely not what's going on in Punch-Drunk Love. There's a very moving performance here. It has range and it's done with almost no affectation. Really.

And, BTW, Met_K, don't go dissing Chris Farley. I really liked that guy, even though he was in some crappy movies. I guess I also better go on record as liking Will Farrell.

I can safely say, however, that I'm not particularly into Tim Meadows, Chris Kattan, or Molly Shannon. Or Mike Meyers, come to think of it.

-Tom

Brandon Clements

10-13-2002, 06:39 AM

Joe Morgenstern, the WSJ movie guy who normally can't stand being in the same theater as a Sandler movie, actually liked the show. Even called Sandler "amazing, and used amazingly well" by P.T. Anderson.

I haven't even heard of the movie before Friday, any idea when it's going nationwide?

DavidCPA

10-13-2002, 06:55 AM

Easily the best thing I've seen since The Royal Tenenbaums.
Oh, no.

Ditto.

-DavidCPA

Tom Chick

10-13-2002, 10:08 AM

I haven't even heard of the movie before Friday, any idea when it's going nationwide?

It opens "wider" this Friday, the 18th, but I don't know how much wider. Since it's essentially a romantic comedy instead of an art house movie, it'll probably be a nation-wide release.

-Tom

Linoleum

10-14-2002, 07:40 PM

Adam Sandler and Emily (could get an academy award nomination for a playing an emotionally damaged woman in a car commercial) Watson side by side in a movie? My brain is going to implode.

chet

10-26-2002, 07:05 PM

Finally saw it tonight. Really, really liked it. It does a great job of creating a world and staying in it.

Not a spoiler but a spoiler......................

I liked the no titles in the begining, it made the movie feel unbalanced right off, I kept waiting for them to break in then when I got caught up in the movie, i forgot about it.

Jim Preston

10-28-2002, 07:02 PM

Tom Chick

10-29-2002, 01:03 AM

Am I the only one who didn't believe Emily Watson would fall in love with a guy like Barry Egan?

I've actually heard this criticism quite a bit. Not only did it not bother me, but it didn't even occur to me when I was watching the movie.

I guess my response would be two things, both of which might be considered cop-outs, but:

1) Why does anyone fall in love with anyone else? It's just not something that can be explained or quantified. There was so much chemistry between them that I wasn't bothered that she was grounded, successful, and confident while he was neurotic, withdrawn, and emotionally barren.

2) The movie is about Barry Egan. With the exception of a few asides in Utah, the movie only knows what he knows, is only present where he's present. When he leaves a room, we don't know what's being said or what people feel. In fact, I'd say the movie tone, from the editing all the way through the sound and lighting design, is carefully calculated to reflect his state of mind. We didn't need to understand her motivation because it wasn't her movie.

I can understand the criticism.

And while we're playing 'rank the pt anderson', here's my list, in order of preference:

Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
Hard Eight
Boogie Nights

And just to remind those of you playing, here's my Wes Anderson:

Royal Tenenbaums
Bottle Rocket
Rushmore

Finally, here's my Brad Anderson:

Session 9
Happy Accidents
Next Stop Wonderland

-Tom

Jim Preston

10-29-2002, 04:31 AM

1) Why does anyone fall in love with anyone else? It's just not something that can be explained or quantified.

Hmmm...love may not be explainable completely, but that's not to say it can't be explained at all. I didn't really feel her love was explained very much.

This isn't really a big issue with me, however, two women I know who have seen the film both said this was a major criticism for them. They actually liked the film less than I did and really disliked the Barry Egan character. However, both of these women rate Titanic at 5 stars, so that may be the explanation.

Small side note: I have never seen so many people walk out of a film since "Kids." I saw this film at (this is true) Downtown Disney, the happiest fucking place on earth. Most of the Saturday night patrons were expecting a different kind of Adam Sandler movie I guess. I didn't start counting until about halfway into the movie, but I would have to say at least 15 - 18 people walked out. That's not a reflection on the quality of PDL, I just found it slightly amusing. We don't have the most sophisticated cineastes here in Orlando.

And while we're playing 'rank the pt anderson', here's my list, in order of preference:

Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
Hard Eight
Boogie Nights

Yikes. Definitely don't want to get into a discussion about Magnolia.

Just to round out the thread, here's my list of Sherwood Anderson:

Winesburg, Ohio
Dark Laughter
Poor White
Many Marriages

graller

10-29-2002, 07:09 AM

You cannot play rank without including the Coen brothers...and it is a much larger library. I can't recall them all but the ones that have stayed with me are:

O Brother Where Art Thou
Raising Arizona
Fargo
Barton Fink
Millers Crossing

Anonymous

10-29-2002, 08:08 AM

[quote=TomChick]Hmmm...love may not be explainable completely, but that's not to say it can't be explained at all. I didn't really feel her love was explained very much.
It's easy to cheese out and say, "Oh, it's love, it's unexplainable," but she's just as weird as he is, but her weirdness is less obvious. The scene that said it all was the "violent love banter" in the bedroom in Hawaii.

Tom Chick

10-29-2002, 12:35 PM

The scene that said it all was the "violent love banter" in the bedroom in Hawaii.

I loved that scene just for how abrupt and disconcerting it was. Almost right up there with the car wreck/harmonium abandonment scene. Great bold stuff.

Interesting that you mention the criticism being leveled by women, Jim. That's also where I've heard it.

However, as a tip to make your life easier, try to avoid women who give Titanic 5-star ratings.

-Tom

P.S. I will kick the ass of any man who didn't like Magnolia. Okay, maybe not. But I will call him names. Behind his back. When he's out of earshot.

Tom Chick

10-29-2002, 12:38 PM

You cannot play rank without including the Coen brothers...

No, no, Graller, you were supposed to rank the Magnificent Ambersons!

The Coen brothers ranking is a good one. You can usually kick start any movie conversation by asking someone his or her favorite Coen brothers movie. Most people pick Raising Arizona. I love stumbling across the occasional Miller's Crossing traditionalist or Hudsucker Proxy freak.

Myself, I'm was a Barton Fink guy. Until I saw The Man Who Wasn't There. I know I stand almost alone on that one, but, well, someone's got to stand here.

-Tom

graller

10-29-2002, 02:06 PM

I have not picked up Man Who Wasn't There yet. I catch most of my movies in rental. Based on your comments I will pick it up on my next swing thru Blockbuster.

Desslock

10-29-2002, 02:18 PM

Small side note: I have never seen so many people walk out of a film since "Kids."

Man, I can't even imagine how they'd react to his latest, Ken Park.

Ron Dulin

10-29-2002, 02:36 PM

I will kick the ass of any man who didn't like Magnolia. Okay, maybe not. But I will call him names. Behind his back. When he's out of earshot.

Sign me up, then. I thought the opening sequence was great, and it had some great parts, but overall I was not a fan of the film.

However, I did think it was better than Punch-Drunk Love, which is the best-looking terrible movie I've ever seen. PT Anderson needs to spend some more time on his scripts, or just film opening sequences.

Jim Preston

10-29-2002, 02:59 PM

However, as a tip to make your life easier, try to avoid women who give Titanic 5-star ratings.

Both of these women are hot, so I choose not to avoid them. I'd rather hang out with hot-looking Titanic lovers than Punch Drunk Lovers that look like Tom Chick in a wig and skirt.

Kevin Perry

10-29-2002, 03:46 PM

that look like Tom Chick in a wig and skirt.

My eyes! The goggles, they do nothing!

Tom Chick

10-29-2002, 05:36 PM

Tom Chick in a wig and skirt.

I was in a staged version of an episode of Charlie's Angels, put up in the back room of a bar in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the episode where the Angels go undercover as prisoners in a women's penitentiary. I played Bosley at the beginning and end of the show, but in the middle, I played the evil dominatrix female prison guard who hoses the Angels down with cold water, torments them during their stay, and eventually tries to track them down when they escape. I wore a wig and a dress for that role.

The above is not a joke. I am not kidding, as you can see by the lack of misspellings that would indicate the post is a joke. To quote Magnolia, one of Ron Dulin's top 3 pt anderson movies, "This happens. This is something that happens."

-Tom

Jim Preston

10-29-2002, 06:49 PM

I was in a staged version of an episode of Charlie's Angels, put up in the back room of a bar in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Another piece of the Tom Chick puzzle falls into place...

Anonymous

10-29-2002, 07:10 PM

From The Onion:

Adam Sandler Fans Disappointed By Intelligent, Nuanced Performance
LOS ANGELES—Adam Sandler fans across the nation expressed deep disappointment in the new film Punch-Drunk Love, which features an intelligent, nuanced lead performance by the comedian. "He didn't even do his funny high-pitched 'retardo guy' voice," said college student Bradley Sanderson, 19, after seeing the critically lauded film Tuesday. "And what was with all that textured, multi-dimensional character-development shit?" Similarly let down was fan Bob Trotta: "I didn't pay $9 to see Adam Sandler wrestle with some psychological crisis. He could have at least put a trash-can lid on his head and gone, 'I'm Crazy Trash Head! Gimme some candy!' How hard would that have been?"

And for the record, I thought Hard Eight and Boogie Nights were better than Punch-Drunk Love. And all three were better than Magnolia.

Ron Dulin

10-29-2002, 08:08 PM

"And what was with all that textured, multi-dimensional character-development shit?"
What movie are they talking about? The Wedding Singer? Seriously, Punch-Drunk Love was just Me, Myself and Irene without the funny sons.

I guess I'm assuming the Wumpus role on this one. What bothered me was the two-dimensional characters, so I don't understand this Onion quote. We're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for Egan, I guess, but he's a frightening character and I didn't see much in the way of change. And his sister - the usually-amazing Mary Jane Whatshername - was just grating. Like the soundtrack. And the whole movie. It's a shame to see Luiz Guzman wasted like that.

Spoilers.

I really, really liked the film up to, and including, the party scene. But after that, it just sort of repeated one note over and over again like a really bad Greg Ginn solo. And I found the whole phone sex scam subplot to be really distracting and unnecessary. I'm reminded of that great Pauline Kael quote about Blow-Up: "It becomes ah-sweet-mystery-of-life we-are-all-fools, which, pitched too high for human ears, might seem like great music beyond our grasp."

I think the guy is amazingly talented. Even though I didn't like Magnolia, I had to watch it twice before I made up my mind. He has an amazing talent for framing and pacing, but Punch-Drunk Love just seemed like he wrote a first draft and then filmed it, like a student film full of heavy motifs that add up to nothing.

It was beautifully photographed and edited, though.

Sparky

10-29-2002, 11:03 PM

This isn't really a big issue with me, however, two women I know who have seen the film both said this was a major criticism for them.
Yeah, but as a woman, you get used to seeing ridiculous matchups in movies. It doesn't occur to most male directors that a hot young thing might not, in reality, fall instantly in love with their character, no matter how old/ugly/strange/downright obnoxious he is. It's akin to the way a guy can sit on the sofa in his XXL underwear complaining about how Catherine Zeta Jones has "let herself go" while absentmindedly scratching himself with an Extra Spicy Slim Jim.

Take any recent Woody Allen or Rob Schneider movie, for example.

Tom Chick

10-30-2002, 12:59 AM

he's a frightening character and I didn't see much in the way of change

He's not only a frightening character, though. He's also frightened. He's a sad, pathetic, and lonely character who tentatively reaches out and then pulls back. He's frustrated and shy, enraged and violent. He's even kind and polite. Calling him two-dimensional is *almost* up there with Bub calling Kingsley's Don Logan from Sexy Beast two-dimensional. I was looking through your message for misspellings to see if you were kidding.

As for not seeing much in the way of change, the whole movie was about how an emotionally barren man comes to say a corny line like the one delivered to Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the mattress store: 'I have so much love in my heart that it's given me a strength you'll never know'. Or whatever the line was. It looks awful on paper and it's a horrible line, but the movie has, by that time, earned the right to deliver it.

He goes from hiding from Emily Watson to flying across the ocean on a whim to find her. He goes from unleashing violence in wildly inappropriate situations to carefully controlling it to eschewing it altogether. Those are serious changes.

And I found the whole phone sex scam subplot to be really distracting and unnecessary.

I thought it was pretty crucial. It was an instance of him using the phone to reach out and being betrayed by it. At that point, he should have been driven even further into the shell of his little Sheman Oaks apartment. But it ends up giving him that strength he uses (vs. the four brothers) and then disavows ("That's that!"). Eventually, he "decapitates" the phone and leaves its "head" at the mattress store in Utah.

I can understand people not liking it. It has a strange tone. It uses a banal genre (romantic comedy) to explore an unconventional character. It does very strange things with colors, light, and particularly sound. But it's my pick for movie of the year so far.

We'll see how it bears up next to Jackass. :) Which I actually do plan on seeing!

-Tom

Derek Smart [3000AD]

10-30-2002, 05:38 AM

Easily the best thing I've seen since The Royal Tenenbaums.
Oh, no.

LOL!! Thats what I said! :D

Ron Dulin

10-30-2002, 06:40 AM

He's not only a frightening character, though. He's also frightened. He's a sad, pathetic, and lonely character who tentatively reaches out and then pulls back. He's frustrated and shy, enraged and violent. He's even kind and polite. Calling him two-dimensional is *almost* up there with Bub calling Kingsley's Don Logan from Sexy Beast two-dimensional.
I must once again reference Me, Myself, and Irene which is about the exact same type of character (as was The Waterboy, now that I think about it). I don't see how making someone emotionally frightened is three-dimensional. He remains emotionallly frightened until his last speech, and even then whatever happens isn't very clear.

His various traits are just paraded one by one, and I didn't necessarily think they added up to a whole, or at least not a significantly more interesting whole than your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy protagonist.

Throughout the film, I felt like I was being told what was going on: He is scared, now they are in love, etc. At no point did I actually believe any of it, except during that great party scene. It's a romantic comedy with no romance and very little comedy. It's artfully made and quirky, and I have this sneaking suspicion people are confusing that for depth. I won't bust out that Kael quote again.

Anonymous

10-30-2002, 07:39 AM

It's artfully made and quirky, and I have this sneaking suspicion people are confusing that for depth.
I'd say the same thing about The Royal Tennenbaums.

I didn't find Punch Drunk Love at all deep, though I found its quirkiness entertaining. It's certainly not a great movie. I find myself agreeing with both you and Tom... I think Egan does grow, I didn't find him one-dimensional, but I also didn't completely buy into the whole thing. It's a little too aware of itself, just like Tennenbaums.

Kevin Perry

10-30-2002, 09:23 AM

Yeah, but as a woman, you get used to seeing ridiculous matchups in movies. It doesn't occur to most male directors that a hot young thing might not, in reality, fall instantly in love with their character, no matter how old/ugly/strange/downright obnoxious he is.

Actually, it usually does occur to them, but they have no control over it. Hollywood market forces dictate that there is a demand for Jack Nicholson in a romantic role, but no equivalent demand for an actress of appropriate age-- so Helen Hunt gets the job.

It's ageism, not sexism, run amuck. Our standards of male attractiveness don't suffer from age nearly as badly as our standards of female attractiveness.

Add that to the fact that the current Hollywood leading men (Ford, Gibson, Cruise, etc.) are aging swiftly, and that Affleck, Diesel, Damon et al. are not the market forces their predecessors were, the problem isn't going to go away anytime soon.

Of course, in real life people like Ford regularly date people half their age like Minnie Driver and Callista Flockhart. So I guess to keep up, all romantic comedies should star vastly wealthy but aging matinee idols.

Supertanker

10-30-2002, 11:15 AM

vastly wealthy but aging matinee idols.

After catching a glimpse of Ford without a shirt in Six Days Seven Nights, he is now known affectionately in our house as "Saggy Old Man Chest."

Anonymous

11-14-2002, 10:16 AM

I really liked the scenes that presented his anxiety around his sisters (just before he breaks the sliding glass doors.) This is exactly what my social anxiety disorder feels like (minus the violence.) It finally made my wife understand why I don't like to go to bars and busy malls and her giant family reunions.

Anonymous

11-14-2002, 10:17 AM

^
|
\
BobM

BobM

11-14-2002, 10:19 AM

There. Now I have a user id.

Bub, Andrew

11-16-2002, 08:47 AM

"This is Barry..."
"You're hand is bleeding."
Paraphrased: "I don't really freak out all that much..."

Finally saw it. Don't have much to add, I think if you mash together what Rob Dulin, Steve, and Tom Chick, then trim away the stuff I don't agree with, I think you'll get near my thoughts. I loved it, but mainly for it's sublime unpredictability and for how well it was filmed. Anyone else think that if this was Adam Sandler's first film he'd be hailed as a newly discovered genius? Much like that kid from Rushmore was? Anyway, he was pitch perfect. Ultimately I found the love story unsatisfying, but I found the subplot with PSHoffman very satisfying. I suspect this will be one of those films I like more and more the more I think about it.

Anyone know where that odd little song "He needs me..." comes from? I've heard it before, in some film or other, and it's really bothering me that I can't remember where.

Bub, Andrew

11-16-2002, 10:55 AM

Anyone know where that odd little song "He needs me..." comes from? I've heard it before, in some film or other, and it's really bothering me that I can't remember where.

Answered my own question. It's Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl in Popeye. Holy Crap, I think this may be the best/boldest musical oddball reference I've seen in a film since Tenenbaum's used Guardilini's "Christmas Time is Here" from the Charlie Brown Christmas Album!

wumpus

11-17-2002, 01:25 PM

Am I the only one who didn't believe Emily Watson would fall in love with a guy like Barry Egan? I don't claim to know much about women, but I thought they would generally be wary of a guy who oscillates between sheepishness and uncontrollable violence, buys enormous amounts of pudding, and wears the same suit every single day. I just didn't believe that the character would fall in love with him. The only explanation she gave was that she saw a picture of him at his sister's house and she found him adorable. I wonder if should found his inability to make a "Healthy Choice" adorable.
I had the same reaction-- what would possibly motivate a woman to become so obsessed with a guy after only seeing his picture? And particularly this guy, who isn't exactly emotionally stable? Man, she was really pouring it on, too. She practically leads him by the nose throughout the whole movie. She showed up to "drop off her car" clearly sans bra, which wasn't an accident. Note to self: we really need a boobs section in this forum.

And while we're playing 'rank the pt anderson', here's my list, in order of preference:
Invert those lists and you have my lists. No, I'm not kidding. Well, I would put Royal Tenenbaums above Bottle Rocket, but that's about it.

Small side note: I have never seen so many people walk out of a film since "Kids." I saw this film at (this is true) Downtown Disney, the happiest fucking place on earth. Most of the Saturday night patrons were expecting a different kind of Adam Sandler movie I guess. I didn't start counting until about halfway into the movie, but I would have to say at least 15 - 18 people walked out.
I did consider walking out. The movie is EXTREMELY loud, obnoxious, and grating, and intentionally so, for a long time-- both visually and aurally. What's with Luis Guzman randomly breaking his chair and falling out of it in that one scene, for example? It makes more sense once they get to Hawaii and everything is so calm and serene. Clearly building contrast, but man, he didn't have to cake it on six inches deep.

Myself, I'm was a Barton Fink guy. Until I saw The Man Who Wasn't There.
I reject Man Who Wasn't There on the basis that no unmarried man can refuse an offer of a no-strings-attached blowjob from an attractive girl. I mean, come on. I can suspend my disbelief for a movie, but I'm not willing to hang it from the rafters.

I guess I'm assuming the Wumpus role on this one. What bothered me was the two-dimensional characters, so I don't understand this Onion quote. We're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for Egan, I guess, but he's a frightening character and I didn't see much in the way of change. And his sister - the usually-amazing Mary Jane Whatshername - was just grating. Like the soundtrack. And the whole movie. It's a shame to see Luiz Guzman wasted like that.
Consider this a Ron Dulin - Wumpus tag team effort. My reaction was nearly identical to yours, eg, I mostly disliked the movie, except..

I really, really liked the film up to, and including, the party scene. But after that, it just sort of repeated one note over and over again like a really bad Greg Ginn solo. And I found the whole phone sex scam subplot to be really distracting and unnecessary. I'm reminded of that great Pauline Kael quote about Blow-Up: "It becomes ah-sweet-mystery-of-life we-are-all-fools, which, pitched too high for human ears, might seem like great music beyond our grasp."
I didn't like the party; his "8 sister" family seems so contrived and artificial and ultimately, brutal, like something out of Grimm's fairy tales. And on that level, it sort of works. Once you accept this as a modern fairy tale, you stop worrying about how ludicrous it is that any woman would fall in love with this nutty guy after merely seeing a picture of him, how cruel his family is to him, where the hell that organ-piano came from, etcetera.

The turning point for me was Hawaii. Once he got there, things sorta started to click. This isn't a great piece of cinema, but it's an interesting indie film-- an artful non-sequitur fairy tale, exactly like Tenenbaums. I found it more palatable than Tenenbaums, though.

It was beautifully photographed and edited, though.
And man, Emily Watson acts RINGS around Adam Sandler. Jesus. I certainly didn't see this nuanced performance by Sandler that others have mentioned. It was average at best.

Tom Chick

11-17-2002, 02:53 PM

I reject Man Who Wasn't There on the basis that no unmarried man can refuse an offer of a no-strings-attached blowjob from an attractive girl. I mean, come on.

Most of us have a sense of morality that precludes having sex with 16-year-olds.

I can suspend my disbelief for a movie, but I'm not willing to hang it from the rafters.

Hey, that line was really funny! The first twenty times I heard it from other people.

-Tom

Anonymous

11-17-2002, 02:57 PM

Most of us have a sense of morality that precludes having sex with 16-year-olds.
It's legal in Vermont (as in, age of consent is 16), so how does its legality affect its morality? Not that this has anything to do with this conversation, but if the age of consent is 18 in another state, what magically happens in two years that suddenly makes it a more "moral" act?

Tom Chick

11-17-2002, 05:11 PM

what magically happens in two years that suddenly makes it a more "moral" act?

The situation in question, a scene from The Man Who Wasn't There, has more to do with the 25 years of difference between a teenage girl and a middle aged man.

-Tom

Anonymous

11-17-2002, 07:10 PM

The situation in question, a scene from The Man Who Wasn't There, has more to do with the 25 years of difference between a teenage girl and a middle aged man.
Bah! Wouldn't that just make him a stud? Aren't all men sluts?

wumpus

11-17-2002, 07:22 PM

Yes. Some are more reluctant to admit it than others.

Other than that car crash scene, I barely remember The Man Who Wasn't There. Seriously. I guess that's ironic or something.

wumpus

11-17-2002, 07:36 PM

You know, I really had no idea the conversation would go in this direction-- it was merely an offhand, half-joking comment, but.. I found this cool chart that lists the age of consent around the world and in the US:

http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm

I don't know how Tom knew the girl in question was 16, but in the majority of US states, that is actually the age of consent. Note that this chart even has male-male age of consent in there, so Geryk, you're in luck!

Tom Chick

11-17-2002, 07:47 PM

I don't know how Tom knew the girl in question was 16

Because Tom actually watched the movie in question, in which the girl is a high school student.

-Tom

Anonymous

11-17-2002, 08:01 PM

Because Tom actually watched the movie in question, in which the girl is a high school student.
I haven't watched the movie in question, but high school students are typically 15-18, right? So unless they said she was a sophmore in high school, she could, in theory, be 18. Which wouldn't make it more moral, I suppose, or maybe it would.

And you're welcome for this fine, pointless, thread hijack.

Brandon Clements

11-17-2002, 08:06 PM

Tom Chick

11-17-2002, 08:57 PM

Can we say Tom Chick, Vino's patron?

Whoa, I'm busted! I just hope you weren't there, Brandon, for that particular Red Octopus production.

-Tom[/quote]

Erik

11-18-2002, 05:54 AM

Am I the only one who didn't believe Emily Watson would fall in love with a guy like Barry Egan?

If you change the names, you've just described every Woody Allen movie starring Woody Allen made in the last twenty years. In fact, there's probably one where you wouldn't even have to change the Emily Watson part. And that really popular movie where super sexy Helen Hunt can't get a date and so she has to settle for crazy,mean, ancient, fat Jack Nicholson. Or that other movie where she actually does screw Woody Allen. Or that one where she gets to have sex with someone almost her own age, only he's burned over 90% of his body including his face. Between the burned up guy and the neurotic old men, Helen Hunt's about one unobstructed beaver shot away from starring in fetish porn. Compared to every Woody Allen movie, most recent Jack Nicholson movies, Helen Hunt's Wrinkles and Ripples 1-4, and everything on Harrison Ford's schedule for the next decade, P.T. Anderson is Frederick Wiseman.

Ron Dulin

11-18-2002, 08:59 AM

Rob Dulin

Stop with the kidding, already.

Slothrop

11-25-2002, 01:05 PM

As far as whether Barry changed or not, here is my take (This is psychoanalysis of a ficticious character, which is not very sophisticated, but I'm not a film critic so it doesn't bother me):

He was repressed out of fear of his sisters. They gave him an inferiority complex, and he retaliated by smashing things (rather than people, which I think showed the strength of his desire to be a good person at his core; we see this when Emily's questions about his childhood freaked him out and he "beat up the bathroom" instead of hurting anyone).

I think his turning point was in Utah when the scam artist said "You thought you could be a pervert and not pay for it?" and he said "You can't say that! I am a good man!" So the phone sex plot line gave him an opportunity to stand up for himself, but in a more interesting and unique way than just having a big family scene with his sisters, though he did give his one sister hell on the phone from Hawaii. You could see the years of repressed rage coming out in a flash there.

I loved the movie, and I found the love story compelling as hell. I really wanted their characters to get together. Probably mostly because of Emily Watson and her beautiful nipples. No! Because of her acting! And her nice round bottom. The whole package. And the English accent. Rowr.

Brian Koontz

12-06-2002, 09:03 PM