Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Writers: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Photography: Darius Khondji
Music: Daniel Lopatin
Editors: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie
Cast: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian, Mike Francesca, Judd Hirsch, The Weeknd, Tilda Swinton, Natasha Lyonne
Adam Sandler appears to be one of those actors—Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta might be two others—who have a surprising amount of ability to perform when they are motivated but seem to be more often satisfied to run the paces of uninspired but potentially boffo payday productions. Every now and then something seems to get into them—some hunger for respect in their chosen craft, or maybe they just want an Oscar after all—and they take on roles that demand the best from them. By my admittedly biased and perhaps ignorant count (set me straight, please), Sandler has made two of them: the highly eccentric Punch-Drunk Love from 2002, and this relentless, over-the-top thriller directed and cowritten by the Safdie brothers Benny and Josh. Sandler is better-known (per IMDb) for the comedies Big Daddy (1999), Little Nicky (2000), The Waterboy (1998), and The Wedding Singer (1998). Due to mostly peer pressure, I have seen Shakes the Clown (1991), Happy Gilmore (1996), and Hubie Halloween (2020), all of which have their dim pleasures and may be best seen with someone already prone to like them. Shakes the Clown is the best and I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that I don’t remember Sandler in it.
As for the Safdie brothers, I was impressed enough with Uncut Gems to go back and check out the thriller Good Time (2017), which I thought was also pretty good. Uncut Gems bristles with kinetic energy and a stream of unfortunate events as New York City jewelry merchant and gambling addict Howard Ratner (Sandler) attempts to square all the various debts in his high-flying, heedless life, dealing with underworld creditors as well as his embittered estranged wife. He has a hot love affair going on the side with Julia (Julia Fox) but spends most of his time wheeling and dealing and trying to get down exotic parlay bets. A brief establishing sequence introduces us to a rock the size of a large russet potato, obtained illicitly from a mine in Ethiopia and massively embedded with opals. Then the picture starts on live footage from a colonoscopy camera, wends its way through a concert by The Weeknd, and finishes on a basketball game on TV—proving, once again, that gambling simply makes everything more intense. Here we see what is purported to be a live game 7 between the Boston Celtics featuring Kevin Garnett and the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s a lot riding on it, and we are content to spend most of the last 30 minutes or so of Uncut Gems watching this game with Ratner.
Adam Sandler appears to be one of those actors—Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta might be two others—who have a surprising amount of ability to perform when they are motivated but seem to be more often satisfied to run the paces of uninspired but potentially boffo payday productions. Every now and then something seems to get into them—some hunger for respect in their chosen craft, or maybe they just want an Oscar after all—and they take on roles that demand the best from them. By my admittedly biased and perhaps ignorant count (set me straight, please), Sandler has made two of them: the highly eccentric Punch-Drunk Love from 2002, and this relentless, over-the-top thriller directed and cowritten by the Safdie brothers Benny and Josh. Sandler is better-known (per IMDb) for the comedies Big Daddy (1999), Little Nicky (2000), The Waterboy (1998), and The Wedding Singer (1998). Due to mostly peer pressure, I have seen Shakes the Clown (1991), Happy Gilmore (1996), and Hubie Halloween (2020), all of which have their dim pleasures and may be best seen with someone already prone to like them. Shakes the Clown is the best and I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that I don’t remember Sandler in it.
As for the Safdie brothers, I was impressed enough with Uncut Gems to go back and check out the thriller Good Time (2017), which I thought was also pretty good. Uncut Gems bristles with kinetic energy and a stream of unfortunate events as New York City jewelry merchant and gambling addict Howard Ratner (Sandler) attempts to square all the various debts in his high-flying, heedless life, dealing with underworld creditors as well as his embittered estranged wife. He has a hot love affair going on the side with Julia (Julia Fox) but spends most of his time wheeling and dealing and trying to get down exotic parlay bets. A brief establishing sequence introduces us to a rock the size of a large russet potato, obtained illicitly from a mine in Ethiopia and massively embedded with opals. Then the picture starts on live footage from a colonoscopy camera, wends its way through a concert by The Weeknd, and finishes on a basketball game on TV—proving, once again, that gambling simply makes everything more intense. Here we see what is purported to be a live game 7 between the Boston Celtics featuring Kevin Garnett and the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s a lot riding on it, and we are content to spend most of the last 30 minutes or so of Uncut Gems watching this game with Ratner.
Yes, that’s Kevin Garnett not only playing in the games in broadcast footage but also playing himself in the picture—not bad, not particularly good, his only job really is to lust after the gem rock. He and his crew do that fine. They show up at Ratner’s shop in New York’s jewelry district with money virtually overflowing every pocket like in the cartoons. Ratner traffics in high-ticket items like Rolex watches (and knockoffs) but his personal taste tends toward Spencer Gifts levels, for example with a line of jewel-encrusted Gizmo figurines. Gizmo, you will recall, is the winsome gremlin in the Gremlins movies. Ratner’s wares appeal to the nouveau riche like sports stars. Amazingly, Ratner gives up the gem rock to Garnett for a night. For security, he takes Garnett’s 2008 championship ring, which he immediately hustles off to pawn. Ratner basically spends the movie borrowing money from Peter to pay Paul. Both Peter and Paul in these exchanges are highly dangerous. Every move of his makes you groan, although he does get down some very shrewd bets. That night, with the gem rock sitting in his locker, Garnett peels off an amazing game (game 5, I believe, in the fictional series).
Things otherwise don’t work for Ratner most of the time. The movie is full of all kinds of suspense elements we know well, but they are skillfully deployed. Electronic things, as they do all of us, frequently fail him, and at the worst times. He loses his glasses, which he needs—through all of this Ratner is never not a nerd, albeit a brazen one addicted to gambling. The bad guys—there is a wide assortment here and it’s hard to rank which are worst—strip him and throw him in the trunk of his car at one point. This happens in the parking lot of the high school where his daughter is performing in a play. Another time, he is unceremoniously dumped into a downtown New York city fountain in suit and tie and comes up drenched and gasping. He gets knocked down, but he gets up again. Through sheer willpower—and this remarkable performance by Sandler—Ratner is a force of nature that will not be denied.
There’s not much more to Uncut Gems than its energy but that is remarkable and it is enough (ditto Good Time, by the way). It’s just the story of a guy who doesn’t know any better and keeps digging himself into further trouble. You are liable to regret a lot of Ratner’s various terrible decisions. But when the bets go down and the games start it’s as riveting as any sports event you’ve ever seen—remarkable in itself. Uncut Gems ends the only way it can end but it distracts so well to that point that it’s still a shock. Ratner is so absurdly heroic in his quest to win he makes us forget the inevitable whims of the universe that are sure to take him down. Play loud.
Top 20 of 2019
1. Parasite
2. Midsommar
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4. Uncut Gems
5. The Vast of Night
6. Blow the Man Down
7. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
8. Dennis and Lois
9. Chernobyl
10. La Llorona
11. Booksmart
12. Knives Out
13. First Cow
14. Us
15. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
16. Saint Maud
17. The Souvenir
18. When They See Us
19. Joker
20. Vivarium
Other write-ups: Bacurau; Breakthrough; The Confession Killer; Don’t F**k With Cats; The Irishman; Leaving Neverland; The Lodge; Marriage Story; Missing Link; Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood; Rocketman; Unbelievable; Who Killed Garrett Phillips?; Who Killed Little Gregory?
Things otherwise don’t work for Ratner most of the time. The movie is full of all kinds of suspense elements we know well, but they are skillfully deployed. Electronic things, as they do all of us, frequently fail him, and at the worst times. He loses his glasses, which he needs—through all of this Ratner is never not a nerd, albeit a brazen one addicted to gambling. The bad guys—there is a wide assortment here and it’s hard to rank which are worst—strip him and throw him in the trunk of his car at one point. This happens in the parking lot of the high school where his daughter is performing in a play. Another time, he is unceremoniously dumped into a downtown New York city fountain in suit and tie and comes up drenched and gasping. He gets knocked down, but he gets up again. Through sheer willpower—and this remarkable performance by Sandler—Ratner is a force of nature that will not be denied.
There’s not much more to Uncut Gems than its energy but that is remarkable and it is enough (ditto Good Time, by the way). It’s just the story of a guy who doesn’t know any better and keeps digging himself into further trouble. You are liable to regret a lot of Ratner’s various terrible decisions. But when the bets go down and the games start it’s as riveting as any sports event you’ve ever seen—remarkable in itself. Uncut Gems ends the only way it can end but it distracts so well to that point that it’s still a shock. Ratner is so absurdly heroic in his quest to win he makes us forget the inevitable whims of the universe that are sure to take him down. Play loud.
Top 20 of 2019
1. Parasite
2. Midsommar
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4. Uncut Gems
5. The Vast of Night
6. Blow the Man Down
7. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
8. Dennis and Lois
9. Chernobyl
10. La Llorona
11. Booksmart
12. Knives Out
13. First Cow
14. Us
15. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
16. Saint Maud
17. The Souvenir
18. When They See Us
19. Joker
20. Vivarium
Other write-ups: Bacurau; Breakthrough; The Confession Killer; Don’t F**k With Cats; The Irishman; Leaving Neverland; The Lodge; Marriage Story; Missing Link; Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood; Rocketman; Unbelievable; Who Killed Garrett Phillips?; Who Killed Little Gregory?
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