“Aggressively poetic” best describes Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” – one of the most beautifully tense, most unsettling romantic comedies ever made. Adam Sandler gives his best and most original performance as Barry Egan, the owner of a moderately successful designer toiletries business, living a life constantly filled to the brim with anxiety. Indeed, Barry’s seven older sisters render him numb with their overlapping waves of incessant pestering. But with the flick of a very specific switch (his sibling-alleged homosexuality), Barry the nebbish nice guy becomes a raging, fist-splitting lunatic. Sandler’s Barry is full of surprises, all brought to light when he meets the lovely and mysterious Lena Leonard (Emily Watson). Their obvious chemistry is an off-beat mix of the awkward and sweet but what they share more than anything is an all-consuming loneliness. “You got me out of my room,” she says to Barry with a smile, taking the words out of his mouth. The film relies skillfully on atmosphere over plot, emotion over logic – and Sandler makes Barry Egan one of the most likably complex characters to come along in a while. He’s a walking case-study replete with quirks – whether it be his subconscious need for escape (conveyed in the purchase of $3,000 worth of pudding that a faulty marketing scheme makes good for a million frequent flyer miles) or the looming frustration and guilt he feels after calling a phone sex ad, which leads to a phone sex extortion scam, which then leads to a gang of volatile hillbilly brothers, led by the great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Oh, and there’s a road-side harmonium thrown into the mix, too. One thing is clear, “Punch-Drunk Love” never trivializes romance with winks, smiles, and bubblegum. It’s an aggressive and poetic experience that brazenly depicts the clumsy nature of falling in love, warts and all.