Uncut Gems stars Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, an eccentric jeweler in New York City who receives an expensive opal that he plans to auction off to pay off his many gambling debts. He soon loses the opal, and begins placing bets all over the city in an attempt to not only get it back, but also cover his debts. As a loan shark, played by Eric Bogosian, and his goons, come after him and repeatedly threaten him, Howard soon gambles with both his own life and his family’s livelihood in order to keep his unraveling well-being together.
The film is directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, whose last feature, Good Time, showcased their talents for creating high amounts of tension and severe anxiety. This film cranks that energy up to eleven and keeps it there for the entire film’s run time, rarely – if ever – taking a moment to breathe. Their direction is exhilarating, with a pulse-pounding synth soundtrack that keeps the level of stress to a maximum, as well as quick, frantic edits and constant extreme close-ups that give the viewer a sense of disorientation.
Even within the sound mix, the brothers manage to induce high levels of suspense and fear, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. Characters constantly talk over another, and almost no one who’s present in a scene stays quiet. If there are ten characters in a scene, all ten characters are trying to get a word in, and are constantly shouting as they do so. While in theory, this would come off as obnoxious, everything that they’re saying typically has some weight to it, as nearly everyone adds something that peels back another layer of just how deep Howard’s troubles are, and how badly his world is falling apart.
Plus all the shouting and yelling really helps capture the feel of living in New York City. The “City That Never Sleeps” is very much all about hustle-and-bustle, with people known for their impatience and abrasiveness. Everyone wants to get what they need done and move on to the next thing, and that’s conveyed really well here. This film moves at a rapid-fire pace, rarely spending too much time in one particular setting. Howard is constantly on the move, bouncing back and forth between certain locations, or sending someone on one errand while he deals with another.
Howard himself is a troubling protagonist. On paper, he’s not exactly someone that viewers would call necessarily likable. He never spends enough time with his family, often more concerned with his next big gamble, and even when is in the room with them, he’s often distracted, and constantly brushes them off. When he’s not with his kids or his soon-to-be ex-wife, played by Idina Menzel, he’s often wrapped up with his mistress, played by Julia Fox, and even when they’re together, their conversations can sometimes derail into arguments.
Howard is loud, chatty, and always trying to talk his way out of hot water. While it does take some time to completely buy him as someone as ultimately well-meaning, there are brief flashes of humanity sprinkled throughout.
And that’s thanks to the strong lead performance from Adam Sandler, who gives what may very well be his best performance. Sandler, when given the right material, is a formidable dramatic actor, and has an everyman quality to his acting style. It gives him a charm factor that plays into most of his roles, and as Howard, it transforms him from being totally unlikable to someone who’s actually quite endearing. When he makes a foolish decision, there’s less berating him for not thinking things through, and rather feeling bad for him that he would continually dig himself into a deeper hole.
Sandler is complemented by a strong supporting cast, which is one of the most eclectic casts seen in a film in quite some time. Kevin Garnett has a major supporting role as a fictionalized version of himself and he surprisingly holds up as one of Howard’s main foils. He almost serves as an odd parody for athletes who believe in good luck charms and other strange concepts that they feel would help improve their game, and it’s funny without ever coming across as unbelievable. Idina Menzel is really solid as Howard’s wife, constantly berating him in many comical moments at every chance she can get, while Eric Bogosian is really fun to watch as the loan shark, as is Judd Hirsch who has a small role as Howard’s father-in-law.
The biggest standout of the supporting cast is Julia Fox as Howard’s mistress. At first, her role comes off as a bit thankless, seemingly just being there as a way to show just how bad of a person Howard is. However, her role expands as the movie goes on, and she ultimately plays one of the biggest parts in the film that makes her one of the most compelling players in the story.
Lakeith Stanfield is the only one who feels just slightly underutilized as Howard’s right hand man, and the point-person between him and Garnett. He does make for the voice of reason between Howard and many of the people he gets himself in trouble with, and he is engaging to watch when he’s on screen. He is absent for a good portion of the film, however, and while that does add to the overall chaos in Howard’s life and increases the stakes, given how strong the performance was, it would have been nice to see more of him.
Uncut Gems is loud, aggressive, chaotic, and totally insane. It proves the Safdie Brothers truly have what it takes to turn seemingly mundane situations and turn them into extremely stressful moments filled with high anxiety. It’s a story that almost immediately kicks things into high gear and never once relents with, making audiences want to stand for the entire runtime. And it contains a great cast, all of whom give compelling performances, anchored by Adam Sandler giving a career-best performance. Hopefully, he continues to take on more roles such as this, as it goes to show, when placed with the right material, he can easily become one of the finest actors working in the industry.
Recommendation: Watch It
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