Uncut Gems

Summary

“I’m not going to lie to you… I’ve been better.”

The Safdie brothers rose out of the independent film scene when they landed Robert Pattinson for the lead role in their race-against-time thriller Good Time. That film won them rave reviews and made it possible for them to get their project Uncut Gems in front of Adam Sandler. Sandler is an underrated and under utilized actor that can play dramatic roles as easily as comedic ones. The reason that he gets brushed aside is that Sandler is more likely to release a comedy than a drama and some of those comedies are not very good. That said, some of those comedies are classic (Happy Gilmore) and some showed his dramatic range in unexpected moments (The Wedding Singer.) With rare exception (Reign Over Me,) I have really enjoyed Sandler’s dramatic work since absolutely blowing everyone’s collective minds in P.T. Anderson’s Punchdrunk Love. I enjoyed him in Spanglish (which was underrated,) The Meyerowitz Stories, and in Funny People (even though the film was way too long.) When I saw the reviews start rolling in about Sandler’s bravura performance, I knew that I would need to see Uncut Gems as soon as possible.

The film begins in 2010 as some African Jews discover a large uncut gem in a mine. The film jumps forward. The year is 2012. Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is leading an incredibly stressful double life. The jewelry store owner and consummate salesman and gambler has numerous unpaid debts to every loan shark in New York. As the film begins, two heavies have been sent to his store to collect a loan from a shark named Arno (Eric Bogosian.) Howard owes him over $100,000 and Arno may be forced to use violence against Howard if he doesn’t receive payment. While Howard juggles those debts, the uncut gem arrives from the African Jews. Howard has managed to sneak them into the country inside of some fish carcasses. Howard sees his way out of debt and into prosperity by auctioning off the item in a few days. When NBA player Kevin Garnett (Kevin Garnett) comes by his store because of Howard’s inside man Demany (LaKeith Stanfield,) Howard lends the uncut gem to Garnett as long as he can hold onto Garnett’s champion ring for collateral. So what does Howard do? He evades the heavies that are after him and pawns the ring to bet heavily on the Celtics game. He juggles all of these components and also manages to cheat on his wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) with his young attractive employee Julia (Julia Fox.) Julia also may be getting a little too close for comfort with the singer The Weeknd who is still up and coming in the world.

This film is a rollercoaster ride. It is rare that I watch a film and almost immediately feel stressed out as I watch it. The breakneck pace at which Howard gambles with his fortune is either going to thrill audiences or drive them crazy. I personally enjoyed it a lot while also eating my finger nails compulsively. Fans of Good Time will be happy to see that the Safdie Brothers are continuing to refine their craft and the narrative pulse of Uncut Gems is as impressive as in their prior film. This script which was co-written by Ronald Bronstein is exhilarating. The pace almost never lets up aside from one excellent family dinner scene where the film allows a momentary break from the madness of Howard’s life. Make no mistake about it: the writing is thoroughly original and very well crafted. It took the brothers and Bronstein well over a hundred drafts to get the script right and they nailed it.

Let’s talk about Adam Sandler’s performance. It’s fantastic. Wearing some pronounced white teeth, Sandler fearlessly inhabits Howard. He spews forth every line while the anamorphic lensed camera stays reliably focused on him and his surroundings turn into a blur. The film wants the audience to be firmly in tune with the mindset of the central character and in this case it is a really fascinating and terrible person. Howard is unbelievably full of ambition and willing to toss all abandon aside in order to achieve his dreams. He wants it all, even as it seems that his whole world is crumbling under the weight of his ambitions and unfulfilled promises. Sandler delivers the goods. His performance definitely deserved to be at the very least nominated for Best Actor and the Academy went with safer picks. Was it a more powerful performance than Joaquin as the Joker? That is debatable, but I know which performance I preferred. For supporting actors in the film, I was pleasantly surprised by Kevin Garnett. He may have found a new line of work, because he is utterly convincing. Eric Bogosian is great as Arno and infuses his role with the proper amount of disappointment and menace. The Weekend’s cameo is really entertaining as well. The other new face in the film is Julia Fox as Howard’s girlfriend. My guess is that she is about to be cast in numerous films in the coming years. She kills it.

One of the aspects that I really enjoyed about the film was the filmmaking techniques used. Cinematographer Darius Khondji was asked to use various techniques that were unnatural for him. They used a combination of digital cameras and 35mm film with anamorphic lenses. They also used very intense zoom lenses from 75mm all the way up to 350mm and which was unnatural for Khondji who has worked on films including Se7en and Delicatessen. To sync the footage together correctly they used some grain filters in post production. The results look great and very unique aside from one scene where the grain filter becomes a little too chunky. The film does not look like anything else that was released last year.

Overall – Uncut Gems was one of the best movies I saw this year despite making me feel on edge for the entire duration of the film. Adam Sandler deserves all the praise he received for his performance.

Video

Presented in 1080p from an MPEG-4 AVC encode at 2.39:1 aspect ratio, Uncut Gems looks great. The film has a very unique look thanks to cinematographer Darius Khondji. This film looks very different from other films because it relies on untraditional lenses such as zoom lenses and anamorphic lenses. The film combines digital film and 35mm film by using grain filters that were added in post production onto the digitally filmed scenes. Only one scene stuck out to me as being “chunky.” Aside from that, this film is a blast visually. The film looks very vibrant and high contrast. It doesn’t look like any other film released last year and I mean that as a high compliment.

Audio

Lionsgate have provided a fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track. The Safdie Brothers in many ways remind me of Robert Altman because of their willingness to let voices overlap. At times it is absolutely impossible to hear what everyone is saying, but that is the effect that was intended. The music by composer Daniel Lopatin fits the film perfectly. It’s quirky at times and largely electronic based which adds to the energy of the picture. This track sounds fantastic.

Supplements:

• Money on the Street: The Making of Uncut Gems – this is a fantastic behind the scenes piece that lasts for nearly half an hour. Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, and the Safdie Brothers discuss how Uncut Gems came together. The Safdies reveal that it took them more than a hundred drafts to get the script right and that elements were taken from stories their father told them. Adam Sandler discusses how the picture came to his attention. 

Overall scores 

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Uncut Gems is a fantastic film that will undoubtedly lose some fans due to its breakneck pace. This film was one of the very best films of 2019. It is totally unique and thrilling. Adam Sandler’s performance was one of the very best performances of 2019. His Oscar snub was a great example of how the process used does not always generate the proper results. I really enjoyed the film and I am happy to report that it looks great on Blu-ray aside from a couple small imperfections. My guess would be that the Safdie brothers are going to be around for a long time and create some really interesting cinema. Highly recommended.