Director: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Writer: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein (Screenplay)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett, Judd Hirsch, Idina Menzel
Plot: A charismatic New York City jeweller always on the lookout for the next big score, makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.
Runtime: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Very Loud
Story: Uncut Gems starts as we meet fast-talking jeweller Howard Ratner (Sandler) who has his own business and lock up in New York City, he does owe people money across town, with one of the loan sharks Arno (Bogosian) wanting to cash in, pressuring him into paying back now. Howard who is always out for making a big score as won big on his latest bet, which would clear his debts.
When his debt collectors get aggressive, Howard needs to relocate a priceless diamond that professional basketball player Kevin Garnett has taken, Howard loses his most trust partner Demany (Stanfield) and his girl on the side Julia (Fox) is cheating on him, his life is starting to fall apart, can he fix everything before he loses everything.
Thoughts on Uncut Gems
Characters – Howard Ratner is a fast-talking jeweller who has always talked his way in and out of problems, he owes money all over the town and believes he is about to clear his debts, only for everything to go wrong once again, he needs to clear his debts before it is too late. He isn’t a nice guy, screwing over anybody who he deals with however nice they are. Arno is the person that Howard owes money too, he wants everything back with interest and has started to send the people after Howard to collect. Julia is the girlfriend that has been taking advantage of Howard, enjoying the high life more than she is willing to admit. Demany is one of the connections that works with Howard, he brings in people for sales, people that want the secret sales on the side.
Performances – It is great to see Adam Sandler in a more serious role, he does prove himself as an actor once again, he does everything to make his character great. LaKeith Stanfield continues to show himself making a big impact on the industry, while the rest of the supporting cast are fine without doing much.
Story – The story here follows a jeweller that has seen his fast talking nature that has finally started to catch up on him, with his life starting to spiral out of control in his life. This does show us how one man has always tried to screw people over will finally see everything come back to bite him in the arse, he hasn’t eery treated people with respect in life and now he learns who would actually be there if he needs help. This does show us how people can get so caught up in their own ideas that they will never want to make fix themselves with the idea of greed coming to catch up on them. It does show how mistakes you make in life can catch up on you if you don’t know what to do if you want to be honest.
Comedy/Crime/Mystery – The comedy in the film is dark comedy that shows us just what Howard says to people, with the crime involved in the film showing how Howard is always trying to get away with anything in life, the mystery isn’t as strong as it should be either, but it is mostly about the special gem he has.
Settings – The film is set in New York as shows the secret locations that the business is operating in, while the street scenes are everything we have seen before.
Scene of the Movie – The auction.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The overuse of the ‘n’ word.
Final Thoughts – This is finally a film that shows Adam Sandler’s acting abilities are still in him, only with a list of unlikable characters that you don’t care about, because they are just making their own problems.
Overall: Sandler Can Act.
