S A A. (Learned2Heal) wrote on 12/14/2008...
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Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Boogie Nights), this movie is visually and psychologically very interesting. It has a fairly quirky but riveting plot, with Adam Sandler playing a character very different from his usual silly, vapid fare. Emily Watson is a surprise in her role as the main character's love interest, and handles it very well indeed.
The synopsis on this page does not do it justice but, in truth, it would be hard to measure up to that task. Although, I should add that the "violence" alluded to is hardly worth mentioning. It crops up very briefly here and there, just to give you a sense of the frustration and inner turmoil of the main character. In fact, through most of the movie he is a very easy-going, gentle and, ultimately, repressed soul.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has a few brief but welcome scenes as one of the main bad guys. As always, he is brilliant.
Many of this movie's scenes seem almost like dream sequences, even though they are not. It has some good chuckles and a few, unexpected, audio-visual shocks. Good ones that leave you gasping because they were so well crafted and so unexpected.
Overall. this is a "you gotta see it to see what I mean" kind of movie.
The nominations and awards given to this movie were all very well earned, IMO.
A very unusual movie that stays with you. In a good way. IMDB rates it 7.4/10. I give it a 3.8/5.