Today we have a special guest, host of the real question Maricio Bruce.

Maricio and I have been friends for nearly 25 years, so it was especially fun to ask him, what is one of your favorite love stories?

And he brings us the 2002 Paul Thomas Anderson movie Punch Drunk Love.

Paul Thomas Anderson, I have to say, won his first Academy Award after 14 nominations

just this past weekend for one battle after another.

Punch Drunk Love was his fourth film.

Anderson wrote the movie with Adam Sandler in mind.

Sandler had gone from SNL fame to being a regular on the rom-com market,

as previously discussed in the Wedding Singer episodes we did.

Anderson was interested in both Sandler's ability to be a leading man, but also his schick of

turning angry, and thus created the character of Barry Egan.

Barry is single and lonely, and lives in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

He wears the same blue suit every day and occupies a world that oscillates between emptiness and stress,

full of people talking over each other, loud noises, and seven sisters who call and harass him, even when he's trying to work, selling novelty toilet bowl brushes.

I'm just calling to make sure that you show up at this party tonight.

Oh, yes, I will be there.

Okay, fine. Then you get to go back to chatting

with your precious customers, you fucking phony, chatty piece of shit. Okay, all right. Thank you.

The movie starts early one morning when Barry witnesses a car accident. And then, shortly thereafter,

a harmonium gets dropped from a car and abandoned.

Then a woman drops off her car keys with him and asks him to give the keys to the mechanic next door when they open.

She runs away and Barry runs to pick up the abandoned harmonium.

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