Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Punch-Drunk Love 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 11, 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love" (2002) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with composer Jon Brion; archival cast and crew interviews; deleted scenes; original trailers; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Reigon-Free.

Two key elements of the story this film tells will likely shape your opinion of it. The first is easy to defend. The real world is full of people like Adam Sandler’s character, Barry Egan, eager to spend most of their time in their shells. You probably already know someone like Barry because with the expansion of social media their numbers increased dramatically, too. The second is not easy to defend because the film wants you to accept that they can all adapt to the environment in which they exist as well as Barry does. If you believe this is possible, the story’s quirkiness will never bother you, and you will likely have a great time with the film. But if you do not, it is practically guaranteed that you will be bored to tears by it.

I knew a guy once who was a lot like Barry. He was a big baseball fan, intelligent, and an unapologetic perfectionist. He also had a hard time socializing, and I knew that when he was alone with his thoughts, he routinely felt terrible about his inability to connect with people. He had these periods when he would become severely depressed and literally could not function. Playing baseball was the only ‘cure’ that worked for him. I suspect the feeling that he was part of a team and that his efforts during the game were instantly appreciated helped him bounce back. I have been to a couple of these games and the transformation I would witness at the end was truly amazing. My friend eventually met a girl who permanently forced him out of his shell, and at the right time, having fallen in love, they tied the knot. They have been parents for a while. They have two girls and a little boy who also loves baseball.

In the film, Barry’s path to happiness is different. He also meets a special girl (Emily Watson), but not before becoming involved with some creepy dude (Philip Seymour Hoffman) running a shady business out of a furniture store in Utah. Half the film is about Barry trying to distance himself from the creepy dude and his goons, while the other half is about his struggle to find the courage to reveal before the girl how he feels about her. As a result, there are huge emotional ups and downs in Barry’s daily routine that transform his entire existence into one long, strange, at times even borderline surreal rollercoaster ride. Eventually, someone decides that he has had enough and shuts down the rollercoaster, but before it happens, Barry nearly loses his mind.

The film can be quite entertaining at times but big chunks of its story feel disappointingly artificial. For example, various odd editing choices make the abrupt emotional shifts in Barry’s life look utterly unbelievable. Elsewhere, the film seems a lot more interested in your immediate reactions to some of its visual tricks rather than Barry’s condition, and when this becomes too obvious, it would feel like you are viewing a clip from a very long colorful commercial whose financiers desperately wanted to sell you a product that is not easy to sell. So, between feeling for Barry and feeling that your senses are being tested, viewing the film could be a rather strange experience. I enjoyed it but would have preferred it if it was either painfully realistic or decisively over-the-top with the stylization.

*Punch-Drunk Love was partially inspired by a true story. In 1999, David Phillips, a University of California civil engineer, spent approximately $3,000 on pudding and earned a little over 1.2 million airline miles. (Barry does something similar and vows to follow his girl while she flies around the world).

Punch-Drunk Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criteiron's release of Punch-Drunk Love is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Punch-Drunk Love entered Criterion Collection with this release in 2016. The release offered an outstanding technical presentation of the film.

The 4K Blu-ray release offers a native 4K presentation of the film, which can be viewed with Dolbv Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Viision and later spent time comparing the native 4K and 1080p presentations.

The film looks excellent in native 4K. It boasts sharp and vibrant visuals whose density levels are superb. Fluidity is great, too. All of these qualities combined ensure that even on a very large screen there is a consistency in the strength of the visuals that becomes the 4K presentation's biggest advantage over the 1080p presentation. For example, I spent time scrutinizing parts of the film with nuanced indoor footage, and in several places they tend to produce superior background information, which folks with large screens will appreciate. The same parts look great in 1080p too, but occasionally finer nuances in backgrounds do not have the same consistency that is present in the native 4K presentation. The other area where I think some small but meaningful improvements can be observed is color reproduction. On the native 4K presentation, the expanded color gamut brings in some superior primaries and supporting nuances. (In both categories, they are brighter ones). I would say that these improvements become meaningful in particular areas, but they are throughout the entire film. Image stability is outstanding. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Punch-Drunk Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the 4K Blu-ray release, the only audio track is English Dolby Atmos. On the Blu-ray, the only audio track is English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I am unsure if someone would be immediately able to spot any meaningful discrepancies in terms of quality that may exist between the Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks. Perhaps if direct comparisons are performed this is possible, but not during a conventional viewing. I certainly could not pick up any while revisiting the film on 4K Blu-ray. In other words, I still think that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is outstanding.

Punch-Drunk Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Blossoms and Blood - presented here is a twelve-minute 2002 piece by Paul Thomas Anderson featuring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, along with music by Jon Brion. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Jon Brion - in this archival program, composer Jon Brion explains how the soundtrack of Punch-Drunk Love was created and how the music was integrated into the film. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (28 min).

• Recording Session - presented here is footage from scoring sessions at Abbey Road Studios (December 2001). In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Jeremy Blake - in this filmed conversation, New York gallerist Lia Gangitano and curator Michael Connor discuss the digital artist and painter Jeremy Blake's contribution to Punch-Drunk Love and his body of work. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Additional Artwork - presented here is additional artwork that Jeremy Blake created for Punch-Drunk Love. With music. (3 min).

• Cannes Film Festival - presented here are studio interviews with cast and crew members that were conducted for the Cannes Film Festival in 2002, as well as the main press conference. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Studio Interviews. With Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Thomas Anderson. (8 min).
  2. Press Conference. (38 min).

• The Pudding Guy - presented here is an archival interview with civil engineer David Phillips whose fascinating story -- he purchased a massive amount of pudding for approximately $3,000 and earned a little over 1.2 million airline miles -- was inspirational for the creators of Punch-Drunk Love. The interview was aired on NBC in 2000. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Scopitones - presented here is a collection of twelve scopitones with footage from the film. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).
  
  1. First
  2. Harp Finger
  3. Punchy Doorbell
  4. Mysterio
  5. Boy Businessman
  6. Healthy Choice
  7. He Needs Me
  8. Lena
  9. Come and Get Me
  10. Exit Love Story
  11. Sissy Lake's Love
  12. Waimanalo Walk

• Deleted Scenes - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. The Sisters Call. (8 min).
  2. "Are You From California?". (3 min).

• Mattress Man Commercial - a pretty funny clip featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, Dean Trumbell from Utah. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Trailers - three original trailers for Punch-Drunk, Love. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Theatrical Trailer. (3 min).
  2. Jeremy Bake's Love. (2 min).
  3. "Eat Tomorrow" (1 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Miranda July's essay "A Delegate Speaks", as well as technical credits.

Punch-Drunk Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is not easy to find the right person to fall in love with. The character Adam Sandler's plays in Punch-Drunk Love gets lucky and finds his special girl, but not before his life almost spins out of control. The film is quite interesting, but I cannot agree that it is as easy to like as some of its biggest defenders insist. Criterion's combo pack introduces an excellent native 4K presentation of it. RECOMMENDED to its fans.