Uncut Gems

Wow, what a ride. This wasn't the unbearable anxiety-fest that some are claiming, but it sure does invoke a lot of uneasiness throughout. The Safdie Brothers take you on a mesmerizing journey in the life of a gambling-addicted man in the Diamond District. Hopefully this puts to bed the idea that Adam Sandler isn't a good actor. He displays his incredible versatility and gives the performance of his career. I really loved the synth score used throughout and it greatly heightens the intensity at key moments. Uncut Gems is a shocking and stressful tour de force that is worthy of the praise heaped upon it.

Personally, I find the more a film affects my feelings and emotions, the better(no matter the emotion). From Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", to "Free Solo", or even "August Osage County"; films aren't simply bad because they make you uncomfortable. One could argue; the more uncomfortable, the more effective. This is the case with Josh and Benny Safdie's "Uncut Gems".

Adam Sandler's comedies are hit and miss for me. Some are genuinely funny, some are not, but "Uncut Gems" just edged-out P. T. Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love" as my favorite film from this seemingly unrecognized serious actor. The Academy's omission of any nomination (especially for Sandler) is inexcusable. The film currently parks-itself behind "Parasite" as the second best film I have seen from 2019(36 films through an 84-film watchlist).

Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a Jewish Jewell Dealer mired in a world of debt, gambling, gangsters, and real-life Superstars. The casting is exceptional! Every single character makes the film more believable, and it needs them, because the world that Howard Ratner lives-in is so chaotic, that it may have plausibly crumbled-to-pieces without them. Sandler pulls-off the monumental task of creating audience empathy, for a character who is morally bankrupt. We want this guy to find his way out of this relentless hurricane.

The film never lets-off the gas. One might criticize the monotony and predictability of it all, if it weren't for some interesting family and gambling dynamics thrown into the mix. The film seems to be literally dropped into the climax of Ratner's life. There is so much that led to this crescendo, but still, the film manages to completely flesh-out it's characters. By the time it's all over, the viewer feels like they've been pulverized into diamond ash.

The ending is thought-provoking enough to make you ask questions, and the artistic value is nearly flawless. This is as uncomfortable as I've been watching a film in many years, and for that reason alone, it is a success.

9/10 for me.

You Might Like this if you liked: Pi, Charlie Countryman, Mississippi Grind, Sorcerer, or Leaving Las Vegas.

All reviews here are correct. The good ones and the bad ones. This movie is a mess and you can like it or hate. My wife hated it, I liked it very much.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not the biggest Adam Sandler fan. I purposely ignored this movie because I was expecting it to be another bad Sandler film. But upon taking a glance at some of the 2019 year end movie top 10's for some movies to watch, this movie kept showing up on the lists. So finally I caved and sat down to watch it.

And let me just say... DAMN! Wow! Just wow. That was INTENSE! I could actually feel the sweat form on my forehead towards the end of it because I was so nervous. This movie left me a mess. It was great! The directing, the plot, and the CHARACTERS were fantastic. The directing was done pretty well, but there were a few inebriating shots in the first half and throughout, but it's still directed well. The plot was very intriguing. At first I didn't think I'd care, but towards the end I was biting my nails because I was so into the film. I haven't felt so tense throughout an entire film in such a while, and I left feeling like a trainwreck. When a movie can do that, you've succeeded.

I need to give Sandler alot of the credit. I believe it's his best performance acting wise and one of the greatest of the year. Him playing this dark gritty and charismatic gambler was thrilling. I truly believe Sandler should take on more dramatic roles like this, because he was phenomenal. In fact, now thinking back on it, Sandler was so underlooked during the award season. He ABSOLUTELY should've been nomianted for an Oscar. In fact, this movie should've been nominated for Best Picture. This movie is so underrated and I REGRET not watching it earlier.

Look, I'll be willing to watch more of Adam's movies if he takes on more of these roles. This movie and his performance were fantastic!

I'd highly recommended this movie. It's a thrill ride. In fact, I'm surprised at the amount of low ratings in these reviews. It was great!

7.8/10 Might change it to an 8.

They should hand out high-grade blood pressure meds to people going to see this after it ends. The major strength and in a way the slight weakness of Uncut Gems is how laser-focused the Safdies are in conveying total anxiety, stress and mania through this extreme act of full cinema SOUND (levels of acting and over-lapping dialog, that Vangelis-Blade-Runner-on-Steroids/Crystal Meth score, some of the cinematography and the tracking of the camera).

I do wish there was a little more than just flourishes of relief, though I'd be lying if I said Sandler was anything but exceptional and riveting playing degenerate crumbling right before our eyes. While Eric Bogosian, Lakeith Stanfield and Kevin Garnett and many others here are natural solid, it's Sandler's show, and it's soulful and tense and harrowing and ultimately (as terrible as Howard can be) tragic. The filmmakers's greatest achievement from the looks of this and Good Time is finding star-actors who aren't known for their wide range and getting career-triumph work from them. If the movie isn't all that complex, I do think Howard is and that helps make this pretty special as a depiction of addiction, more than anything else. It's got grit and style to burn, which is mostly fine by me.