Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffmanbr>Review by Eli Manning
SYNOPSIS:
A beleaguered small-business owner gets a harmonium and embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman.
REVIEW:
There's something very endearing about this film. A must see for the romantic in probably all of us. And the socially awkward and unconfident person in all of us too.
Adam Sandler fans will watch this film and wonder what the hell they just watched. It’s a comedy in it’s heart before the romantic, but it’s not a shock comedy. It’s a real life comedy.
Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson shows us a character and a world we all can relate to. Perhaps too much as this is the dark side of the lighter side of life. Our insecurities are always funny but we must distance ourselves to actually see them as funny. This is what this movie does and I was a better person to watch it.
So far all you Sandler fans out there. Please watch this movie because as of 2008, this is his best performance. This film will grow on you so keep watching. You might think you hate it at the beginning but there is so much truth in this film, you can’t help but like it after it’s finished.
We all want to feel like we belong somewhere and not feel alone anymore – this is the theme of the film. Adam Sandler plays Barry Egan, a young man who is trying to make his mark in the world. The problem is that he just can’t relate to anyone – especially his family. He’s a man who’s alone in the large world and wonders why that is.
Then a harmonium piano appears in his world out of nowhere and everything begins to change for him.
We all need to take chances in this world so we can feel. Sometimes we fail but when we succeed, we really succeed. Barry takes his chance on the woman he loves right away (and who loves him) and then conflicts of his stupid past acts are the only thing that harms his path to fulfillment.
Emily Watson plays his romantic interest. She’s your common girl on the surface but in every performance she portrays in film, you just can’t help but see how beautiful she is. She is an actress who should be getting all the major female roles in Hollywood because I don’t think there is a better actress than her.
This film will be a blip in Paul Thomas Anderson’s career. He’s one of the best directors working today and this small non-epic film might get lost in the shuffle. But please see this film as it probably is the best romantic-comedy of the first decade of the 21st century.
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