Uncut Gems

Intense 2 hrs !! It's loud and shouty and really in your face , gives you a rollercoaster of a ride from start to finish .

Adam Sandler is superb just brilliant, never knew he could be this way and he really became the person !!

It's a great film that never gives you a minute. No real sympathy for any of the characters but you do believe in them all !

A film to watch , just be prepared.

The first five minutes of Uncut Gems are bewildering and disruptive; it feels like you re thrown into the middle of something, can't quite hear what is going on, and feel the pressure of whatever situation we have just found ourselves. It continues from there with an intensity that is relentless. It does not make for an easy film, but it makes for an engaging one. It totally sells the sense of addiction and relentlessness of gambling - the highs it offers through the thrill of the chase and the elation of the win, but also the lows of the many downsides and loses.

In doing this, it is a terrific film if you are looking to feel a sense of oppression and anxiety, because this is what it does best. It has a comparatively long running time, but it feels shorter because of how consistently relentless it is. Within this Sandler is the beating heart, convincing in every aspect of his character. It is a tough watch though, because it is very much one-note in its content and message - so it does depend on how much you enjoy that sense of falling self-destruction combined with joy - I really liked it for how well it did it, even if it does feel enclosing and tough. The way it allows Howard his highs and his lows helps; it is not some terrible cautionary tale - we get to see what his life gives him and how he chases (and occasionally gets) the thrill of the big win.

The whole production sets and matches the tone of the film as a whole. There is glamour in the locations, but they also feel tired and forced; the jewellery shop in particular gets this right - it is full of hugely expensive items and has celebrities in it, but yet it has that annoying buzzer, cheap furniture, no windows, and a smell of desperation around it. It probably as a whole isn't a film I'd say I really enjoyed, but as an experience it was engrossing and convincing in its highs and lows, with all aspects of the delivery perfectly in synch to make it work.

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.

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.

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.