FilmLinc

NYFF ‘02: “I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.” So says the hapless Barry, hero of Paul Thomas Anderson’s hit PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. PTA probably knows the feeling. After the runaway success of his sprawling epic MAGNOLIA, the filmmaker announced his plans to make a 90-minute romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler…and followed through. 

The product, a centerpiece screening at NYFF ‘02, was an unlikely triumph. Few romantic comedies look quite like this: an extra-sensitive film stock captures with impossible clarity every solar flare and burst of light that strikes it. It’s a good fit for a film as warm and humane as PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. (Image courtesy of Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second)