Punch-drunk Love

From Wikipedia’s entry on Punch Drunk Love:

Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Adam Sandler and Emily Watson star. Anderson regulars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear.

Sandler won positive reviews for his role in his first major departure from the crass comedies which made him a star; Roger Ebert wrote that “Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power.”

Although the film was well received by critics it was not successful at the US box-office. The film had a $25,000,000 budget and grossed about $17,000,000 at the domestic box office (the studio receives about half the gross). This poor profit might have been due in part to established Sandler fans who were reportedly put off by the film’s quirky, artistic style, which was more in line with independent film sensibilities than the mainstream, low-brow pictures for which he was best known.

The movie features the video artwork of Jeremy Blake as visual interludes.