And in its lithely expressive and true-note way, it always struck me as a highly accessible and commercial movie: a coming-of-age story, and a bold new kind of teenage girl’s story, expressing the outlook of a new-to-movies generation (you might say that Gerwig, in that film, did for millennials what Richard Linklater did for his own on-the-cusp-of-boomers-and-Gen-X era in “Dazed and Confused”). “Lady Bird” was my favorite film of 2017, and it’s on my list of the 10 Best Films of the Decade it’s a great movie. Two years ago, when Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” was released, also by A24, and made $49 million at the box office in the midst of gathering up a slew of highly deserved awards, I was pleased as punch but not really surprised. Yet lest we take the success of “Uncut Gems” for granted, let’s pause for just a moment to consider what an astonishment it is. But in the grand scheme of things, so what? That’s great news for A24, the film, and everyone involved in it. Last week, it collected the best five-day tally ever for A24, the distributor that has made its mark through its singular fusion of taste and edge. The presence of Sandler, along with a great deal of critical adoration, has put “Uncut Gems” on the radar, where it now occupies a very bright spot. In the midst of all this brain-boggling evolution, the fact that “ Uncut Gems,” a critically acclaimed independent feature by the Safdie brothers, starring Adam Sandler as a sleazy, flyweight hustler-spieler-chiseler-gambler who works in New York’s Diamond District (but spends most of his time hiding out in the chintzy casino of his mind), has succeeded in making $20 million at the box office may not seem like that big a deal. Movies and television increasingly flow into each other, and the streaming revolution is only just starting to wash away old categories. A couple of years ago, Netflix was an interloper now it’s poised to dominate the Academy Awards. By the end of Uncut Gems your first instinct is to finally breathe a sigh of relief, but after a few seconds pass… you cannot help but crave just one more bet.The film business is now caught in such a swirling hurricane of change that few pretend to know which way is up.
The Safdie Brothers give Adam Sandler the platform to deliver a career defining performance, and one of the best of 2019. After all, as Howard points out, you can see the whole goddamn crazy universe in the stone.Īs more and more time passes since first viewing Uncut Gems, the more the film shines. It only aims to depict the true disorder of Howard’s life, and by extension the true entropy of the world. What does and does not matter never troubles Uncut Gems. And some of them “do not matter” at all.Īgain, the Safdie Brothers never let the audience rest. And only one of those threads may matter at a time.
NBA star Kevin Garnett screaming, a doctor on speakerphone delivering cancer screening results, a livid girlfriend, and the looting of a safe all live in the same moments. The sheer amount of chaos on screen in any instance might be Uncut Gem’s crowning achievement. By the end of Howard’s journey you are angry, scared, excited, and ready to go one more time. The Safdie Brothers expertly craft a sense of expanding anxiety, developing at an exponential rate. Every time the film appears to be reaching its low point, ready to set up his triumphant return, the hole grows deeper. You keep waiting for him to hit the bottom, only it never comes. Throughout the 2hr 14min runtime, Howard continuously falls down the pit of despair. Despite all of this, you cannot help but root for him a testament to Sandler’s tremendous work. His constant failures rip apart the remnants of his once cohesive family. Time after time, Howard goes in search of the hit only to fall flat on his face.
Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler always in search of the next great bet.
The slow buildup of Daniel Lopatin’s score sets the scene for a film that refuses to slow down. Right from the opening voyage through the gemstone, Uncut Gems promises to be something different, and something great.Ĭlick here to watch the video version of this review. Adam Sandler blesses audiences with another one of his rare dramatic roles, reminding us what he can do with the right script and director(s) (Josh and Benny Safdie here). UNCUT Gems injects perfectly distilled anxiety right into your veins.
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