A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score, makes 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.
I’m new to Safdie Brothers movies. I had “Good Times” on a list to get back to, but eventually, I passed on it in favor of watching some older classics. I realize now I should have done so because that would’ve accurately prepared me for the stress-inducing flick “Uncut Gems.” While I appreciated the unique cinematography, naturalistic dialogue/storytelling, and jazzy soundtrack, I couldn’t handle the battering of my senses for an hour and a half straight by tons of dudes yelling at each other. “Uncut Gems” succeeds in establishing tension and maintaining that tension throughout, rarely ever letting up until the very last second, making the film a physical exercise as much as an emotional one.
Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a gambling addict, operating a jewelry showroom along the jewelers’ alley in New York City. Ratner’s in too deep with the wrong gangsters but his fortune’s about to change when an opal (clearly a blood opal mined in Ethiopia) finally arrives at his shop. He fights to stave off debt collectors left and right while holding together his failing marriage and relationship with his mistress. Taking the money he would make on the opal he invests it back in a sports bet triggering a chain reaction of bad events leading up to one all-or-nothing sports bet on Kevin Garnett’s (facsimile) performance in the 2012 NBA Championships. Expect stress.
Sandler really holds the movie together as the centerpiece character. He really sells the ratty behavior of Howard, encouraging us as an audience to loathe him. His true work comes in the quiet moments where he plays something more than ‘yelling his way past adversity.’ This movie gets so much better when you add Lakeith Stanfield as his erstwhile business partner (suckering celebrities into the store), Eric Bogosian his disappointed brother-in-law, and Idina Menzel as his long-suffering wife. Each person kind of revolves around Howard since the camera literally never leaves his side.
This movie’s naturalistic aesthetic lends the story tension. Cameras bob up and down handheld style. Spaces feel cramped and claustrophobic. Actors constantly yell over each other. The first half of the film leans into this conveying a voyeuristic image of Howard as he struggles to hold his life together. The whole thing comes off as an all-out assault on the human senses of sight and hearing. Only in the back half does it take a more staged approach to cinematography and its story. The sound mix thoroughly exercised my ears, forcing me to physically hide in my chair.
At the halfway mark I thought I’d had enough. My ears hurt, everyone was screaming, and I didn’t think it could get any worse. Howard constantly rolls the dice, betting his winnings (or losings) on the next roll doubling and tripling his troubles in one fell swoop. He’s so thoroughly portrayed as an addict it’s amazing you root for him in the end and that kind of character alliance betrays the work the Safdie brothers did on this film. In other hands, it could easily turn into a morality story (crime doesn’t pay in the end) but this brute force attack on your nerves ratchets the tension up from a high notch an even higher notch. I had to laugh, not cry, and I had to take breaks from watching the screen. I enjoyed the final thirty minutes but man, what a ride to get to the end. I recommend only for the heist and crime movie aficionados.
In select theaters Wednesday, December 25th
