Couch

The two minute "Couch" (2003) starring Adam Sandler is perfect in it's simplicity in the same way that the Lumiere Brother's twenty second "A Sprinkler Sprinkled" (1895) is. Basically, a man (Sandler) searches a furniture store for the perfect couch. The search ends with a presumably perfect couch, a Lay-Z-Boy, which the man seems very comfortable in...until the films punchline.

You can see this pleasant little short at adamsandler.com, so I won't spoil the punchline. But it's short and sweet and free, so why wouldn't you check it out? Adam Sandler plays the part of "the man" very much like Chaplin's Tramp--with just a bit of Waterboy thrown in. And in a way, that's what this little film is: a throwback to those perfect little silent comedy shorts of the first twenty years of cinema.

This film is only 2 minutes long. Unfortunately, it's not even worth those two minutes. Adam Sandler sees a couch in a store. He walks in and sits on it. It falls over. He gets up and sits on a reclining. It folds up on him. Amazingly, that's the whole movie. Nothing really funny about it at all.

P.T. Anderson's 'Couch' consists entirely of Adam Sandler, with a chaplin-esque smile on his face, walking into a furniture store and enjoying himself as he sits on two couches. It's not like this was taking seriously, it's fairly obvious that Anderson and Sandler had some time off from filming the brilliant 'Punch-Drunk Love' and wanted to have some fun. I can't help but love this two minute piece of gold. I hope these guys work together again in the future, whether it be a short such as this, or a full length feature.

So let me get this straight: this short is terrible, but Sandler fighting Bob Barker is classic comedy? There are two ways of looking at this flick. The first is the obvious one; to see the short as something pointless and random that PTA and Sandler put together because they could and because they had a good time doing it. But I prefer the other interpretation; this is PTA's own way of giving the people what they want. After suffering through two hours of great acting and subtleties in Punch Drunk Love, Sandler's fans finally get what they ask for from him: mugging, stupidity and screaming. The short isn't funny, that's the point. The joke is on the Happy Gilmore fans. Now that's hilarious.

Paul Thomas Anderson's "Couch" is a fairly good example of how a dolly and a film camera don't always make a good film. However, it is an interesting short to watch, just in terms of where it fits in his filmography, especially so soon after "Punch-Drunk Love".

If people found it harder to pinpoint the sources of Anderson's inspiration in "Punch-Drunk Love", "Couch" provides an answer of sorts.

It's funny, and I laughed, but only the first time.

But you also have to remember that this film isn't meant to be reviewed, nor even taken seriously. It's a dumb short, and shame on me for treating it otherwise. See it, enjoy it, don't expect much more from it.

Done and done.