Adam Sandler is one of the most recognizable and popular comedic actors in Hollywood. While known for his comedies like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and Big Daddy, Sandler has also stepped into more dramatic roles. His performance in Uncut Gems generated a great deal of praise with many saying he should have been nominated for an Academy Award, and his recent performance in Hustle garnered him a nomination for Best Actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Yet even after all this time, Punch-Drunk Love still stands as arguably his best movie.

Released in 2002 and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love is a romantic comedy that follows Barry (Sandler) a socially awkward entrepreneur who is looking for a human connection while dealing with stress from his seven overbearing sisters and being harassed by an online scheme that has gone violent. He meets and falls in love with Lena (Emily Watson) and learns to find a new sense of confidence and a place of belonging with her. The movie was a critical hit with much of the attention on Sandler’s performance. This is why Punch-Drunk Love is still Adam Sandler’s best performance.

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The Initial Surprise Is Hard to Replicate

     Sony Pictures

When the pairing of Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler was first announced, many were shocked, as Anderson was known as a critically acclaimed filmmaker on the rise while Sandler was known for mainstream comedies that were poorly received by critics. It seemed like an odd pairing and even Sandler himself did not think he could carry a Paul Thomas Anderson film. Yet Anderson expressed that he was a fan of many of the actor’s comedies (he had married another SNL star, Maya Rudolph, in 2001) and wanted to work with him, writing a film around Sandler.

For context, Punch-Drunk Love was Sandler’s first film following the critically reviled Little Nicky. Punch-Drunk Love opened in theaters in October 2002 and came out between the release of two mainstream Sandler comedies, Mr. Deeds and Eight Crazy Nights. Punch-Drunk Love truly was a shock to many critics, as it was the first time they saw Sandler in a dramatic new light, realizing he had the potential to be not only a funny actor but a great one.

That initial discovery can only happen once. In subsequent dramatic performances like Funny People, Uncut Gems, or Hustle, while also great, weren’t as shocking a revelation because Punch-Drunk Love laid the groundwork for people that Sandler could do more. Punch-Drunk Love has set an expectation for the actor that has helped define part of his career and laid the groundwork for those later dramatic works.

Punch-Drunk Love Taps Into Sandler’s Movie Star Persona

As mentioned earlier, Paul Thomas Anderson wrote Punch-Drunk Love specifically for Sandler. The script taps into Sandler’s star persona and uses it to the film’s advantage by embracing and subverting it in unexpected ways. One of Sandler’s best assets as a comedic star, as showcased in films like Billy Madison and The Waterboy, is to feel very much like an overgrown child, a young soul in an adult body.

Whereas those movies use that for broad comedy, Punch-Drunk Love uses that for a sense of vulnerability. He is infantilized by his sisters and feels small in the world around him contributing to a sense of loneliness. It makes his character more sympathetic because it shows his star persona not in a comedic light but from the perspective of an adult world.

That same childlike persona also taps into how the actor depicts rage. Anyone who has seen Sandler’s comedy knows how he uses his voice to scream for comedic effect, showcasing an exaggerated form of rage. Yet in Punch-Drunk Love, that rage is simultaneously a pathetic and frightening aspect of his character.

Barry is quiet but bottles up his emotions so much that, when it does come out, it is in the form of violence and destruction. This isn’t the funny, angry Adam Sandler, but a more tragic depiction of what he was great at. Barry Egan is very much in the same vein as many other Adam Sandler roles, which is what makes the performance so incredible. Paul Thomas Anderson tapped into what was just sitting in Sandler, waiting to be showcased.

Sandler Works as a Romantic Leading Man

Punch-Drunk Love is first and foremost a romance, and one thing that is unexpected about Adam Sandler as a performer is how well he works as a romantic leading man. Two of his most beloved films are The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates, which are romantic comedies pairing him with Drew Barrymore. While Sandler might not seem like the typical lead in a romantic comedy it is his everyman status that makes him so enduring in these roles and in particular Punch-Drunk Love.

Sandler’s performance is vulnerable but also incredibly sweet. He is charming if a little awkward, but also a loving figure. He so desperately wants a human connection, he even calls a phone sex hotline just to talk to somebody. His first date scene with Emily Watson’s Lena is cute but a little awkward and is relatable to anybody who has felt the anxiety and discomfort of a first date. Sandler’s role in many ways feels like a modern update of a Cary Grant character, a lovable everyman who finds love. Punch-Drunk Love is a short but moving love story, and one that still stands as Sandler’s best performance to date.