Uncut Gems (2019)

By: Mike Ward on Saturday, January 04

R Running Time: 135 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Adam Sandler delivers a performance unlike anything you have ever seen before in this pulse-pounding, gripping, high-stakes thriller.

  • Fans of the Safdie Brothers’ high-energy, go-for-broke style of filmmaking will not be disappointed.

  • Brazen, brash, and unafraid, Uncut Gems is a battering series of lightning bolts during a more subdued and contemplative awards season.

NO

  • This movie is going to be A LOT for some viewers. The unrelenting nature will overwhelm some people.

  • These characters aren’t really human beings, they resemble something more akin to impulsive animals. Sure, that may appeal to some, but few films have a character slate as potentially off-putting as this one does.

  • Based on audience reaction, this movie is an example of the growing critic/audience divide, but in reverse: Critics love the film, audiences seem to really struggle with it.


OUR REVIEW

Working at breakneck speed for two unrelenting hours, Uncut Gems is a frenetic, suspense/thriller featuring Adam Sandler as the somewhat unlikely centerpiece of the latest film from brothers Josh & Benny Safdie (Good Time).

For those familiar with the Safdie Brothers, they don’t do things half-way, and Uncut Gems starts fast and only accelerates headlong into a series of surprising and exhausting scenes. Sandler is at the heart of every moment, delivering a performance that has the potential to turn the tide with many of his most dismissive critics, who have attributed Sandler’s recent oeuvre as lazy, uninspired, and not particularly funny.

As Howard Ratner, Sandler is a jeweler, running an appointment-only high-end jewelry store in Manhattan. He also has a gambling addiction and frequently strings along clients and bookies for thousands and thousands of dollars, robbing Peter to pay Paul and all the rest.

We learn from the opening of the film, set in 2012, a rare rock discovered from an Ethiopian mine is going to be the catalyst that sets Howard on a rabbit-hole like journey into chaos. When the rock, basically an uncut opal, arrives at his shop, he is in the midst of haggling with NBA superstar Kevin Garnett (in an extended cameo) and his entourage. When Garnett becomes dissatisfied and is ready to bounce, Howard, desperate to keep his client happy, shows Garnett the opal and inexplicably allows him to “borrow” it for good luck for the night’s game.

What follows is an rather insane shell game where Howard is dodging debtors, making side-deals, and trying to not only keep the peace with his wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) and his children, but also his mistress Julia (Julia Fox).

The Safdies care little about whether you like their characters or not, and Howard is about as insufferable and unlikable as they come. Sandler’s commitment to this performance however, is one of the biggest surprises of 2019, maybe even the decade. As Howard, it serves as a reminder that, as we have seen before in movies like Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me, and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), his dramatic chops are significant. And yet, we’ve never ever seen an Adam Sandler like this.

In a movie this frenzied, with people shouting over each other, driven by a concussive, scraping score from Daniel Lopatin, and moving cameras and quick-cut editing, Uncut Gems is a dazzling array of disorientation.

Understand, Uncut Gems is the antithesis of subtle and this is a lot of movie. Like a lot a lot. The tolerance one may have for it rests in how much they can remain invested in Sandler’s selfish and narcissistic demeanor, the unrelenting presentation, and an overall griminess with every aspect of the story laid before us.

At times, Uncut Gems is undeniably thrilling. Watching Howard move from one scenario to the next, barely survive and pull himself together to make that next bet or land that next side-hustle is taxing, but we are riveted to see how we will pull the next thing off, because Sandler’s boundless energy never abides. Those around him, which also includes LaKeith Stanfield, Judd Hirsch, Eric Bogosian as Sandler’s criminally-minded brother-in-law, and a breakout, head-turning performance from Fox, in her feature-film debut.

Also, let’s not forget R&B/Pop singer The Weeknd, who, in a memorable cameo, adds to the sense of madness that envelopes Howard’s life and his world.

Whether Howard is a hero or a villain isn’t the point – how he dances on the edge of success or failure, and the risks involved with any potential failure, seems to be all that defines and compels him.

While definitely not for everyone, Uncut Gems is a dizzying display of manic energy, hyperkinetic intensity, and morally bankrupt characters trying to survive malevolence of their own creation. For better or worse, no one makes movie like Josh & Benny Safdie, and the appeal and head-tilting fascination with Uncut Gems will likely lie specifically within the eyes of the beholder.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian, Judd Hirsch, Mike Francesca, Josh Ostrovsky, Pom Klementieff, Wayne Diamond, The Weeknd, John Amos.

Director: Josh & Benny Safdie
Written by: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Release Date: December 13, 2019
A24