Intermission: Sandler proves acting ability in 'Punch Drunk Love' role

Jim Wunderle is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.

Punch Drunk Love

The opening scenes of "Punch Drunk Love," in a different context, could have been considered weird. But not in the universe of the man who had it raining frogs in "Magnolia" and had a group of coked-up would-be robbers sitting nervously in a living room with the stereo blaring while a guy continually threw firecrackers around in "Boogie Nights." Having an unexplained car wreck followed by a moving van dropping a harmonium off in the street, is par for the course.

The director, Paul Thomas Anderson, has done something in "Punch Drunk Love" even more bizarre than frog storms and indoor fireworks: He's gotten critics and film lovers across the country to declare that Adam Sandler is a great actor. This is tantamount to saying Tom Green is subtle or that Carrottop is a comedic genius.

Here Anderson, who wrote the script with Sandler in mind, has played on the actor's strengths and allowed him to use his talents in ways we've never seen before. He's still Sandler, to be sure. He's sappy, goofy, vulnerable and sometimes annoying. But his role as Barry Egan is not a one-dimensional caricature as his others have been.

Anderson's view of the human condition is as much in evidence in this script as it was in "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights," this time in a shorter form. This is not an ensemble piece with many stories, but rather the tale of one man's somewhat lonely, and at times tortured, life.

Although written for Sandler, Anderson says the inspiration came from a news story about a guy who had discovered a loophole in a coupon offer and was able to amass a million free air travel miles by buying a few thousand dollars worth of frozen foods. This scenario is a subplot here and helps define Egan's character.

Another subplot concerns a phone sex scam. Early in the film, Barry calls one of the numbers, not for phone sex, he just desperately needs someone to talk to. "Georgia," and her "supervisor" wind up trying to shake Barry down for more dough. Sometimes still waters run deep, and the seemingly timid Barry goes a long way to prove this adage.

The main story, though, is the love affair between Barry and Lena, a woman who works with one of Barry's sisters. Played by the engaging Emily Watson ("Breaking the Waves," "Red Dragon") Lena seems to be the first woman to ever have given Barry the time of day. It's funny and sometimes painful to watch Barry, with all of Sandler's mannerisms, wrestling with the emotions involved in an affair of the heart.

While not as intricate or expansive as "Boogie Nights" or "Magnolia," Anderson's latest is a film one needs to personally watch unfold. With that in mind, I'll leave with a statement I'd never thought I'd make: Adam Sandler may grab an Oscar nomination.

Auto Focus

Writer/director Paul Schrader is no stranger to the darker side of the human condition. After living in his car for several months, he wrote "Taxi Driver," which Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro turned into one of the defining moments in 1970s American cinema.

"Auto Focus," deals with the dark side again and is based on a true story. The main character would seem to be the least likely candidate for the events that surrounded his life. After all, anyone who could carry "Hogan's Heroes," a comedy show based on life in a German prison camp during World War II, just has to possess a heck of a lot of likeability. Bob Crane was a guy like that. Charming, good looking and downright affable. He had some quirks, though, and now, after some 25 years and several books recounting his mysterious murder, the facts about Crane's private life are a matter of public record.

Two things seem to have combined leading to the actor's horrible fate, his insatiable sexual appetite and the advent of home video equipment.

His friend John Carpenter (not the director) shows Crane that instant amateur porn was a reality. Crane took to the concept immediately and whole heartedly.

In Schrader's film, Crane is played perfectly by Greg Kinnear and the smarmy Carpenter is also served well by weirdo actor Willem Dafoe.

Also adding a great deal to the mix is Fred Murphy's cinematography. The bright colors and crisp detail of the 1960s give way to darker, grainier images as Crane's descent continues.

"Auto Focus" is grim and gritty and will not suit everyone's taste, but it's a fascinating period piece and character study.