Release Date: January 10th 2020
With streaming services at an all time high, Netflix has now become established as a behemoth for exclusively premiering movies; having recently helmed the likes of Marriage Story and The Irishman towards in the end of 2019. The Safdie brothers latest directorial effort, Uncut Gems, is a welcome addition to the services already stacked catalogue: an ambitious crime thriller led by Adam Sandler.
Having carved a stellar career in comedy, it’s no wonder Sandler is careful to pick and choose his share of dramatic roles and what a choice this was. Howard Ratner is a Jewish jeweller, running a store in the heart of New York’s Diamond District. He’s also an addict. Fuelled by the risk taking adrenaline of gambling, who, in the midst of desperately trying to pay off his debts, purchases a rare Ethiopian opal and soon finds himself tangled in a chaotic game of cat-and-mouse.
Sandler portrays Howard with a sense of unwarranted arrogance, an unwavering certainly that he could talk himself out of (or into) anything. That any bet he places will win and if it doesn’t, surely he’ll make big on the next one. He’s confident and charismatic, but also frantic and barely holding it together. Between his ever-looming financial troubles and an impending divorce from wife, Dinah (exasperated and cold, marvellously played by Idina Menzel) all that he really is, is desperate.
It’s this prominent feeling of desperation that divulges a sense of empathy from the viewer and that’s exactly what makes Sandler’s performance here so outstanding. As a protagonist, Howard isn’t necessarily a good person but he’s not an outright bad one either. He’s simply someone who can’t help but push their luck.
Much thanks to his assistant Demany (LaKeith Stanfield) business is beginning to boom for Howard through a string of deals with heavy hitters from the music and sports industries. It’s after agreeing to lend the treasured opal to NBA superstar, Kevin Garnett, that his plans begin to crumble. With time ticking away and a group of ruthless loan-sharks, led by his own brother-in-law Arno (sinisterly delivered by Eric Bogosian) at his back, what unfolds over the remaining 120 minutes is an almost unbearable amount of stress and tension.
Boiled down, Uncut Gems is an overwrought onslaught of bad decisions. An anxiety-inducing ride that pulls you under, without leaving you any room to breathe. Quick-fire cuts and smothering camera work only add to the claustrophobic air emitted. You’re immediately dropped into the middle of a heavy ongoing conflict and it feels like being shut in a locked room with too many voices screaming.
