Plot Summary – A frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know that he will land in huge trouble and will also jeopardise his relationship with Lena.

★★★★ 

Watched 06 Feb, 2021

Technically, this film is nearly flawless. It has everything almost perfected. Paul Thomas Anderson is a director who my friends adore and I’ve always wanted to get into his work and this was my way in. I don’t know if this is a fair comparison but throughout this film I felt almost the same way as I felt throughout Uncut Gems and that’s what made it so special for me. Every second is breathless and there’s this impending sense of doom and despair that’s riddled throughout the film. What PTA does so well in this film is put us in the shoes of Barry Egan instead of from the outside looking in and I think that’s what makes the film so so effective. This is probably up there with Uncut Gems as Adam Sandler’s best career performance and he really carries the film. I don’t think there’s a marriage of character and actor as divine as the one between Egan and Sandler in this film. Philip Seymour Hoffman is also brilliant in his minor role and acts in one of the most memorable scenes I’ve watched. My main gripe with this film is that although it puts you in Egan’s shoes, it still feels quite impersonal and distant. The uncomfortability you feel throughout the film can be a credit to the incredible filmmaking but it also makes for a very agitating viewing experience. Nevertheless, I cannot stop marvelling at the technical mastery in display.