It’s not often that Adam Sandler finds himself in a dramatic role, but when he does he goes all in. The Safdie Brothers’ latest high-octane, anxiety attack of a film Uncut Gems features the Sandman at perhaps the best he’s ever been – in his element as a disgruntled, obnoxious jeweller up to his neck in gambling debts and loan sharks surviving through sheer luck and quick wits. Excellently written to wring every last drop of tension out of the audience and with a stellar supporting cast, Uncut Gems stands as one of the most original films of the last decade, and although the pacing can dip slightly around the middle, the Safdie Brothers have created a gritty, confronting sophomore feature that rivals if not surpasses their breakthrough Good Time.
We enter this ride in the thick of it as expert jeweller Howard Ratner (Sandler) returns to his shop to find trouble in the form of two dangerous enforcers looking to collect on a debt owed to Arno (Eric Bogosian), Howard’s brother-in-law. The problem is Howard “doesn’t have the money right now” – a line that becomes something of a catchphrase for Sandler’s character throughout the film – and Arno’s goons promise to cause more chaos if they aren’t paid what is owed. Enter the titular gem; a magnificent multifaceted, multicoloured beauty which Howard has imported from Africa to sell at an auction for a cool million – money problems solved. That is until basketball star Kevin Garnett (as himself) of the Boston Celtics steps into the store and lays eyes on it, obsessing over the stone and begging to borrow it before the auction so that he can use its “luck” to help him win the game and the championship. Howard reluctantly agrees, releasing the stone and risking his future, and what follows is a series of increasingly horrifying and nerve shredding events as Howard does whatever he can to keep afloat with all his problems and come out on top.
What makes Uncut Gems so watchable and stops it from being a depressing story of despicable people doing despicable things is Sandler. Maybe it’s all the goodwill he’s built up from starring in classic comedies like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison but it’s almost impossible to root against the guy, even if he is doing things that would make most people’s stomach turn and isolate an audience. He gets by here by playing off both his extremes, mixing that always-yelling anger of his earlier comedy with the subtlety of his more dramatic work – Howard is as aggressive as they come; and he has to be to an extent to get by in his profession, but its the hunger and the level of greed he has that stop him from ever feeling fulfilled. Sandler shows us this in moments which should be happy for Howard – watching his daughter’s play or tucking his son in to bed – by undercutting them with a twitch and sudden need to be around something beneficial for him, his addiction. He is an addict and a broken person and Sandler plays it all beautifully, demonstrating how this affliction can build and build in a person until breaking point. He may never top this, the role seems written specifically for him, and it’s a crying shame he wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar for the performance.
Surrounding this epic performance is some damn fine filmmaking from the Safdie Brothers who go far bigger than their last, more contained feature. The stakes of Uncut Gems are far larger and more life and death and the film moves at a clip for the most part, lingering on specific visuals and people just long enough to make you feel uncomfortable. Certain spots around the middle to tend to drag slightly but it can be overlooked when the anchoring performance is so riveting. Shot to look somewhat grainy and dirty, the effect pays off to make the diamond district of New York look grimy and lived in. The supporting characters that live in it belong here, with LaKeith Stanfield at the top of his game as a hustler from the streets looking to hawk his stolen watches through Howard’s shop and Julia Fox as Howard’s mistress and employee who runs in multiple circles in order to make a name for herself outside the store. Everyone is self motivated and out for themselves, with no compunctions about who they have to go through to get out of their current situations. You get a true sense of this through the dialogue, where multiple people are constantly talking over each other, vying for their opportunity to be heard and appreciated. While this can be something of sensory overload at times it helps to sell both the world and the madness that is in Howard’s head, his addiction the only voice that can rise above the noise.
Uncut Gems is one of those films with a role so perfectly suited for an actor that it becomes a different beast, a showcase for their acting talent. Adam Sandler elevates the source material so much with his performance, partly due to his long presence in the industry and on our screens, that he becomes someone you actively root for, despite the awful way he treats those around him. The Safdie Brothers continue to show a flair for intense, nerve jangling stories that move at an incredibly fast pace, even if there are a few dips here and there, and it won’t be long before they earn the recognition they deserve. Ultimately Uncut Gems will be remembered for Sandler’s phenomenal performance and the Academy’s snub of it at the Oscars. Here’s hoping the Sandman has a few more of these left in him.
Uncut Gems stars Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian, Kevin Garnett & Judd Hirsch – in cinemas in the US now and streaming on Netflix everywhere else.