Sandler’s Saviour

God knows Empire Online would normally not wish such torture on our worst enemies, but Adam Sandler's new film Punch Drunk Love, which premiered at the London Film Festival last night, is actually really rather good. That it comes from the fertile and more than slightly mad brain of P.T. Anderson – think Roller Girl in Boogie Nights or raining frogs in Magnolia - and also stars Britain's own wonderful Emily Watson might possibly have something to do with it, but, we have to admit - extremely begrudgingly, mind - Sandler's not bad either. In a mighty change of tack from the mammoth epic that was Magnolia, Anderson's 90 minute love story stars Sandler in his first straight dramatic role as small time business man, Barry Egan, bullied by a succession of older sisters and – yep, this is a P.T. movie – a blackmailing sex phone operator until he meets the girl of his dreams. A nicely bearded Anderson braved a dark Leicester Square last night to explain his new direction to Empire Online, "You always wanna go left from where you were last. I just really wanted to make a movie with Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. That was really, really the thing. And I had an idea that didn’t require three hours which was nice." And when questioned about the unexpected casting of his leading man, Anderson was quick to point out Sandler's talent. "I didn’t think I could make him into something more," he insisted. "I just wanted to take advantage of what he was. I think anybody that says anything bad about Adam Sandler is a little bit defeatist." Fresh from a London stage, Emily Watson was also keen to speak adoringly of her co-star. "Adam – just a dreamboat. He’s so funny and sweet. I think he’s incredible in the movie," she positively gushed before giving us the inside nod on what it's like to work with one of modern cinema's most gifted young directors. "P.T's the best," she confirmed, "If you give yourself up to it, it’s like a lifetime experience. It’s more than making a film – it’s like stepping into a place with somebody. He’s an extraordinarily creative person and it's just great to be around that." "It was a lovely experience," she summed up. And at last, a Sandler film fits that description too.