Word: lena
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Anderson’s story begins with Barry in the dumps, burdened with a trying job and a smothering family, and goes on to track his journey towards happiness and fulfillment. Barry’s catalyst for this journey comes in the form of Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), with whom Barry becomes so smitten that he follows her on a trip to Hawaii. At the same time, he gets to exercise his developing backbone when he becomes the target of a extortionist phone sex operator who dispatches goons to shake Barry down for cash...
...enamored with the potential for magic in the everyday. Most of all, he believes in the self-improving power of love; it is love that provides a channel for Barry’s rage, turning him into a kind of superman—focused, empowered, yet dependent on Lena for his strength...
...patient, low-key professional; it’s hilarious to watch him suddenly go on a window-breaking rampage, or dissolve into quiet sobs without warning in mid-conversation, or silently walk into a bathroom and rip it to shreds with his bare hands. But as he falls for Lena, Barry’s energy grows to serve a normal, workable emotion; his outbursts are no longer meaningless cries into a void, but rather are to some self-improving purpose. And, as Barry uses his emotional problems to become a happier human being, Sandler channels his flair for comic instability...
...Sandler charging down a dark city street with the manic panic of a rabid cheetah, his tie flapping behind him in hypnotic rhythm. Following through on the theme is composer Jon Brion, who delivers a stripped-down, percussion-heavy score that flowers into a harmonium-accented love theme whenever Lena crosses Barry’s path...
Watson, it must be noted, is excellent as Lena, suffusing her with a tender, huge-eyed docility that’s an able contrast to Barry’s bouts of high emotion. Nearly as good in tiny roles are Anderson veterans Luis Guzman as Barry’s eternally arch-faced co-worker and the ever-sublime Philip Seymour Hoffman as a crass Utah entrepreneur...