This movie starts rather dull, ends abruptly, and less physically funny among other Adam Sandler films. And I cannot help loving this film. This is the second best Paul Thomas Anderson work. The best one is of course, Boogie Nights. (I admittedly have seen only 3 of his film altogether. so Magnolia comes last.)
What strikes me most about this film is its open optimism (or we call happy ending). In Boogie Nights and in Magnolia, there was never an explicit happiness at the ending – always a slight sign of hope. And the stories were not so straightforward. Boogie… was a chronicle which has multiple characters and stories tangled together. Magnolia only separated each episodes but had the same type of structure. But here, there is only one story and it is straightforward: Adam Sandler falls in love, gets troubled, and comes back stronger than before.
Then why this movie seems to become one of the most memorable film in 2003, for me? Probably it is more about the actors themselves rather than the plot. There are so many actors who I love to see on the big screen. Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Luis Guzman, and YES, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Who can resist such an incredible ensemble of cast? They provide exactly what we are looking for – Adam Sandler is slow yet pure, Emily Watson is a psyco yet also pure, Luis Guzman is freaky but lovely, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is – whatever he does, I cannot take my eyes away from him. And last but not least, I love happy ending these days – of course it is because I am getting pessimistic about our real situation (and there are many others as well, I guess).