History Film / PunchDrunkLove

* TheBigDamnKiss: When [[spoiler: Barry goes to see Lena in Hawaii and has to go through several hoops to get to see her - something Lena probably realizes even beyond the thrill that the guy she's interested in actually took an unexpected and expensive trip to see her - he finally tracks her down at her hotel - and walks forward to shake her hand, not remembering or realizing that they're *way* past casual social niceties]] - and this trope happens.]]

** His brother-in-law Walter is also a nice guy. He doesn't get mad after Barry smashes his windows and is more than willing to give Barry a number for a psychiatrist.

* {{Determinator}}: "I'd say, 'That's that', [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Mattress Man]]."

The film tells the story of Barry Egan (Sandler), a sweet-natured but socially inept and introverted ManChild whose life revolves around his novelty plunger business ([[IncrediblyLamePun "Fun-gers"]]) and attempts to extricate himself from the domineering influence of his seven sisters. His interests mainly include buying up large quantities of pudding to take advantage of their air miles offer, and using [[IntimateTelecommunications phone sex]] lines to alleviate his loneliness.

* BigShutUp: The Mattress Man to Barry over the phone.

* TheDogBitesBack: Barry, to both his sister, Elizabeth when he's in Hawaii [[spoiler: and to The Mattress Man.]]

* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Part of why Lena seems so besotted with Barry is that he's so helpless. Lampshaded by the soundtrack with the song "He Needs Me".

* GainaxEnding: Inverted. The movie opens with Barry on the phone talking about [[ChekhovsGun the frequent flier miles promotion]] while random sounds are playing in the background. He opens the warehouse door, stands in the parking lot, witnesses a random car crash, then a group of men in a van pull up and drop off the harmonium. The film becomes more normal from there.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Despite how much Elizabeth browbeats Barry, [[spoiler:she gets defensive when Lena calls him strange.]]
* HypocriticalHumor: The Mattress Man and his gang consistently call Barry a "pervert". You know, for calling a phone sex line that ''they operate''.

* IrisOut: A particularly sweet example, as the Iris centres on Barry and Lena's hands clasped together and actually follows it as they disappear around a corner.
* {{Jerkass}}: The Mattress Man and Barry's sisters, most notably Elizabeth.

* LimitedWardrobe: Barry wears the same blue suit in every scene.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Barry isn't turned on by the phone sex hotline he dials, despite repeated, not-so-subtle hints from the woman on the other line to get horny. He just wanted someone to talk to.

* CurbStompBattle: The Four Blonde Brothers make good on their threat and attempt to assault Barry at his home, crashing his car and injuring Lena. As the Brothers get out of their pickup brandishing a crowbar, [[TranquilFury Barry steps out and buttons up his suit.]] What follows can't even be charitably called a fight. [[spoiler: In less than thirty seconds, three of the brothers are lying injured on the ground and the fourth is cowering with abject terror in the backseat of the pickup, which has its windows smashed by Barry, now wielding the brother's own crowbar. It happens so quickly it can even be considered an AntiClimax (see above).]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Barry does not seem to have a formal diagnosis, but shows poor social skills, acute anxiety and aggressive outbursts. Normally he's shy and reserved, but he sometimes gets extremely upset at certain emotional stimuli. He has tremendous difficulty staying calm whenever his sisters go too far in teasing him and wears the same blue suit throughout the entire film.

''Punch-Drunk Love'' is a 2002 romantic BlackComedy/drama film written and directed by Creator/PaulThomasAnderson, starring Creator/AdamSandler, Creator/EmilyWatson, Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, Luis Guzmán, and Creator/MaryLynnRajskub.

The film tells the story of Barry Egan (Sandler), a sweet-natured but socially inept, introverted ManChild, whose life revolves around his novelty plunger business ([[IncrediblyLamePun "Fun-gers"]]) and attempts to extricate himself from the domineering influence of his seven sisters. His interests mainly include buying up large quantities of pudding to take advantage of their air miles offer, and using [[IntimateTelecommunications phone sex]] lines to alleviate his loneliness.

''Punch Drunk Love'' is notable as one of P.T. Anderson's low-key works, made between the epics ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'' and ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', and for showcasing the dramatic chops of Adam Sandler while simultaneously being a warped PostModern take on the RomanticComedy genre.

* {{Angrish}}: Courtesy of Dean: "SHUT UP! SHUT THE [[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]] UP! Shut up! Will you SHUT UP?! SHUT UP! SHUT, SHUT, SHUT, SHUT, SHUT UP! SHUT UP! NOW! [{{Beat}}] Are you threatening me, dick?"
** Also falls under Rapid-Fire "Shut Up!"
* {{Anticlimax}}: Barry is frantically [and painfully] running from the Four Blonde Brothers when they drive past him and casually remind Barry that "''they know where he lives''". Barry stops running after this. They show up later and crash his car. [[spoiler:Barry gets out and quickly beats them up, smashes their truck with a crowbar, flies to meet their boss, and gets him to back down. In the words of the Mattress Man, "That's that."]]

* OutnumberedSibling: Barry has seven sisters and is the only male sibling. It doesn't help that his sisters are ovebearing and ridicule him.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Barry does not seem to have a formal diagnosis, but shows poor social skills, acute anxiety and aggressive outbursts. Normally he's shy and reserved, but he sometimes gets extremely upset at certain emotional stimuli. He has tremendous difficulty staying calm whenever his sisters go too far in teasing him.

* DirtyCoward: Dean, the Mattress Man, is very full of himself over the phone and when he has his mooks around. When Barry has him cornered, he reveals himself to be a slimy coward.

* {{Angrish}}: "SHUT UP! SHUT THE [[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]] UP! Shut up! Will you SHUT UP?! SHUT UP! SHUT, SHUT, SHUT, SHUT, SHUT UP! SHUT UP! NOW! [{{Beat}}] Are you threatening me, dick?"

* BerserkButton: Barry's button gets pushed multiple times throughout the film, usually whenever his sisters embarrass/emotionally abuse him for the time he threw the hammer through the door. It gets pushed again when Lena is injured in a car accident by Dean's thugs—[[TookALevelInBadass only this time he channels his anger into fending them off]].

* BerserkButton: Barry's gets pushed multiple times throughout the film, usually whenever his sisters embarrass/emotionally abuse him. It gets pushed again when Lena is injured in a car accident by the phone sex thugs - [[TookALevelInBadass only this time he channels his anger into fending them off]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: The movie takes the typical ''Film/BillyMadison'' / ''Film/HappyGilmore''-style Creator/AdamSandler character and deconstructs him by showing the real-life consequences of his behavior and how dangerous that person would feel to you if you actually met one. It also touches on the horrible upbringing that would create such a maladjusted person in real-life.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Despite how much Elizabeth browbeats Barry [[spoiler: she gets defensive when Lena calls him strange.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Dean the Mattress Man has serious anger issues just like Barry.
** Constantly apologizing is a trait Barry shares with his sister Elizabeth, as she apologizes multiple times to Lena for Barry's "weird" behavior. [[note]]Though Elizabeth's presence is the reason Barry was acting "weird" in the first place.[[/note]]

* RedHerring: Barry's plan to amass an enormous amount of frequent flyer miles by collecting pudding cups. He never uses the miles.
** He basically suggests he's going to use them to be with Lena while she's travelling. Though before he met Lena he had no intention of actually traveling anywhere and was just collecting them because they're "like currency".
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Barry's Pudding/Frequent Flyer Miles plan was based on an article P.T. Anderson read in ''Time'' Magazine about a civil engineer called David Phillips who did pretty much the same thing.
** Read more about it [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18753_the-6-most-creative-abuses-loopholes.html?wa_user1=2&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended here]]. (#5)

* MickeyMousing: In one moment, Barry plays one of the [[{{Leitmotif}} leitmotifs]] on the harmonium.

* CurbStompBattle: The Four Blonde Brothers make good on their threat and attempt to assault Barry at his home, crashing his car and injuring Lena. As the Brothers get out of their pickup brandishing a crowbar, [[TranquilFury Barry steps out and buttons up his suit.]] What follows can't even be charitably called a fight. [[spoiler: In less than thirty seconds, three of the brothers are lying injured on the ground and the fourth is cowering in abject terror in the backseat of the pickup, which has its windows smashed by Barry, now wielding the brother's own crowbar. It happens so quickly it can even be considered an AntiClimax (see above).]]
* CanNotSpitItOut: Lena has to take the initiative. A lot.

* CurbStompBattle: The Four Blonde Brothers make good on their threat and attempt to assault Barry at his home, crashing his car and injuring Iris. As the Brothers get out of their pickup brandishing a crowbar, [[TranquilFury Barry steps out and buttons up his suit.]] What follows can't even be charitably called a fight. [[spoiler: In less than thirty seconds, three of the brothers are lying injured on the ground and the fourth is cowering in abject terror in the backseat of the pickup, which has its windows smashed by Barry, now wielding the brother's own crowbar. It happens so quickly it can even be considered an AntiClimax (see above).]]

'''Barry:''' ''[Swinging around threateningly]'' ''Didn't I warn you?!''\\
'''Dean:''' ''[Alarmed]'' Th-that's that! ''[Scurries away]''

''Punch-Drunk Love'' is a 2002 romantic comedy/drama film written and directed by Creator/PaulThomasAnderson, starring Creator/AdamSandler, Creator/EmilyWatson, Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, Luis Guzmán, and Creator/MaryLynnRajskub.

''Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002) is a romantic comedy/drama that tells the story of Barry Egan (Creator/AdamSandler), an introverted, sweet but socially inept ManChild, whose life revolves around his novelty plunger business ([[IncrediblyLamePun "Fun-gers"]]) and attempts to extricate himself from the domineering influence of his seven sisters. His interests mainly include buying up large quantities of pudding to take advantage of their air miles offer, and using [[IntimateTelecommunications phone sex]] lines to alleviate his loneliness.

Then one day, [[AlliterativeName Lena Leonard]] (Creator/EmilyWatson) walks into his life, and everything changes.

''Punch Drunk Love'' is notable as one of [[Creator/PaulThomasAnderson P.T. Anderson's]] low-key works, made between the epics ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'' and ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', and for showcasing the dramatic chops of Creator/AdamSandler while simultaneously being a warped PostModern take on the RomanticComedy and Creator/AdamSandler movies in general.

* {{Angrish}}: "SHUT UP! SHUT THE [[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]] UP! Shut up, will you SHUTUP SHUTUP! SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUTUP... SHUTUP! NOW [{{Beat}}] Are you threatening me, dick?"

* {{Anticlimax}}: Barry is frantically [and painfully] running from the Four Blonde Brothers when they drive past him and casually remind Barry that "''they know where he lives''". Barry stops running after this. They show up later and crash his car. [[spoiler:Barry gets out and quickly beats them up, smashes their truck with a crowbar, flies to meet their boss, and gets him to back down. In the words of the Matress Man, "That's that."]]

* BullyingADragon: The Mattress Man threatens Barry over the phone, [[spoiler:AFTER knowing Barry has dealt with the brothers single-handedly]], clearly not expecting to ever have to confront him in person. [[OhCrap He does.]]

''Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002) is a romantic comedy/drama that tells the story of Barry Egan (Creator/AdamSandler), an introverted, sweet but socially inept ManChild, whose life revolves around his novelty plunger business ([[IncrediblyLamePun "Fun-gers"]]) and attempts to extricate himself from the domineering influence of his seven sisters. His interests mainly include buying up large quantities of pudding to take advantage of their air miles offer, and using phone sex lines to alleviate his loneliness.