Uncut Gems: Unforgettable and Fully-Formed
With Uncut Gems, writer/directors Josh and Benny Safdie (along with their collaborating partner Ronald Bronstein, who co-wrote and co-edited the film) once again capture the exhilarating highs and devastating lows of a character living on the razor’s edge with visceral gusto. Though it will certainly be an arduous and challenging watch to some, there’s really nothing rough about it in a technical sense; it’s a fully-formed, neatly refined, and perfectly gleaming diamond that’s so hard, it cuts glass. Pulsing with energy and uplifted by a Herculean performance from Adam Sandler, the Safdie’s latest is the real deal; a satisfying, unexpected, and breathless journey full of adrenaline and emotion that should not be missed.
Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score. After making a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.
Uncut Gems has been a 10-year journey for the Safdie brothers — one that involved 160 script rewrites, a few initial passes from the Sandman, and several other projects (Lenny Cooke, Heaven Knows What, Good Time) in the interim — and their passion and dedication can be deeply felt in the finished product. In many ways, the film feels like a perfect amalgamation of everything they’ve worked toward so far and all the things they’re passionate about; it seamlessly blends the real with the fictional (Heaven Knows What), uses basketball as a pivotal plot point (Lenny Cooke), engrosses you with its gripping adrenaline-fueled debauch (Good Time), and also has ties to their father (Daddy Longlegs). It also reaffirms the Safdies as an exciting, commanding, and vital young voice within the industry and solidifies them as masters of their craft.
The initial seeds of the project have roots in their father, Alberto Safdie, who used to work in New York’s diamond district on Manhattan’s 47th Street. While their dad did actually work for a jeweler named Howard, the film is more so inspired by the pulpy (and likely embellished) stories their dad would tell them as kids, rather than the actual man. Uncut Gems’ Howard Ratner isn’t just a jeweler; he’s a degenerate gambler with an orgasmic love for wealth, winning, and the impossible score. Like his last name would suggest, Howie is a ratfuck — and an asshole (which we learn immediately as a trip through the uncut Opal gem leads us directly into Howard’s colon) — but he’s a ratfuck (and asshole) you truly give a shit about — one of Gems’ many shining qualities. He is tragically flawed, and he makes terrible decisions, but you’re with him every step of the way, and you always root for him to succeed. Most, if not all, of this is due to Sandler’s presence, which is a phenomenal career-best that shows his unbelievable range as a performer (think of it like the darker, grittier side of Punch-Drunk Love).
Sandler disappears into the role and is absolutely incendiary. Howard is a massive and complex role, and Sandler gallantly rises to every single challenge. He expertly perverts his lovable nature to give Howard a disarming charm and unlikely endearment, which softens his grimy essence and plays perfectly into his never-ending manipulation and scheming hustle. To the right and left of Howard are two strong women — his wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel), and his employee/girlfriend, Julia (Julia Fox) — and both Menzel and Fox deliver forceful and spirited performances. Lakeith Stanfield, who continues to prove that he can bring depth and integrity to even small roles, gives solid support, along with Kevin Garnett, who, despite the fact he’s playing himself, shows that he’s got real chops. Aside from Sandler, Fox, who makes her screen debut with Gems, is the other obvious standout. She has a strong presence and a classic look, and she holds her own against a slew of seasoned talent while also being naturalistic enough to blend right in with the film’s many non-actors.
What the Safdies (and Ronald Bronstein) craft on the page and on the screen is simply incredible; it’s electric, kinetic, compelling, repulsive, and subversive all at once, and its grip — which begins a bit loose (particularly when held against Good Time) even though stakes are immediately high — is as tight as ever. How they’ve careful engineered this exhausting drama around an real NBA series final is astounding and makes it feel all the more real — who knew Adam Sandler watching basketball could be so riveting and tense. The uncut gem of the film’s title, an Opal from Ethiopia, is a prominent fixture in Howard’s story, and the Safdie’s clever use of the stone and its properties/characteristics within the narrative is pitch perfect — and a vital key to excavating some of the story’s deeper meaning:
“Opal is most known for its ability to bring one’s traits and characteristics to the surface for examination and transformation. Just as Opal absorbs and reflects light, it picks up thoughts and feelings, desires and buried emotions, amplifying them and returning them to the source. While magnifying one’s negative attributes may prove to be uncomfortable, it allows for understanding how destructive these emotions can be and assists the process of letting them go. Opal also illuminates the positive actions and emotions of the self, enhancing the good and true, and fostering one’s highest potential. It is a karmic stone with a reminder that what one sends out will return.”
The way in which violence is inextricably linked to the stone lends itself to some pretty lofty and profound significance. Its rawness and docu-realist leanings, combined with its street smarts, gritty urban settings, and confident swagger (which can both be felt in Good Time and Heaven Knows What), affirm our feelings that the Safdie’s style is a meld between William Friedkin, John Cassavetes, Abel Ferrera, Robert Altman, and Martin Scorsese, which is cut heavily with their own brand of claustrophobia, tension, and subversion. Cinematographer Darius Khondji brings Howard’s twitchy and flashy world into vibrant reality, and he cleverly finds exciting ways to light scenes (the blacklight night club scene where LaKeith’s orange sweatshirt is used an eerie bounce light being the first to come to mind). Everything is expertly paced, evenly contained, and perfectly matched to Daniel Lopatin’s remarkable score, with its cool swagger, dark intensity, and flutters of synthesized anxiety (for life and for score) that reflects Howard’s personality, internal struggle, and situation at every swerve.
All the major Safdie hallmarks are present, but they’re more tightly arranged, larger in scope, and more cosmically inclined. Unlike their previous character, Howard is at war with more than himself and his environment; he’s at odds with fate and for all his luck, he’s out of sync with the universe. The film does an amazing job of wrapping you up in the exhilarating thrill and lunacy of Howard’s world before it pulls back and makes you ask yourself: What’s it all for? What is it that we’re all chasing here in America, and does it really even matter?
Uncut Gems throws a lot at you, and it doesn’t give you any time to really process anything until it’s all said and done. It might not be as immediately gratifying as Good Time, but it has sharper twists and turns, and after the cosmic diamond dust settles, it proves to be a more resinous work. In short, it’s an unforgettable experience that will sit with you for quite some time, and it’s a potent reminder of Sandler’s ability as a dramatic performer and the Safdie’s prowess for crafting gritty, challenging, and compelling crime dramas.
Recommendation: See it for the Safdies; see it for Sandler; see it because it’s one of the year’s best (maybe even the best); just see it, and see it in a theater!
Rating: 5 diamond-encrusted Furbies outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!