Uncut Gems Movie Review

The following is an article “Uncut Gems” by Marc Primo.

Release date: 13 December 2019 (USA)

Directors: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie

Language: English

Production Companies: Elara Pictures, IAC Films, Sikelia Productions

Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear-McClard

SPOILER ALERT-- After a string of horrible misses, it’s pretty much safe to say that Adam Sandler is back, complete with a fresh style and perspective in the new crime thriller Uncut Gems. As if fiction embraced reality, Sandler’s reputation as a bankable star somehow depended on this film much like how his character’s life depended on one uncut gem.

Sandler plays embattled jeweller Howard Ratner who has been trying to get his hands on a million-dollar ‘uncut gem’ amidst a windfall of karmic bad luck that include mounting debt, his wife divorcing him, the threat of colon cancer, an unfaithful mistress, and his equally troubled children. His only redemption lies on the prized stone which seems to be frustratingly elusive of him and a jammed vestibule door.

Directors Josh and Benny Safdie do an excellent job in delivering a thrilling yet anxiety-filled feature that triggers your emotion without the usual violence and gunslinging. Audiences will find themselves latched on Ratner’s downward spiral despite the character’s many attempts to fix things. The film’s tension slowly escalates as you find yourself cheering for Ratner despite knowing that he’ll only fail miserably.

Another noticeable risk taken by the Safdie’s in Uncut Gems is how it presented New York sans its romantic and idealistic portrait in pop culture. Here you are taken into Diamond District that reflects the real darkness of the city along with its many shady characters. Uncut Gems totally redefines the neighborhood’s label as ‘the city that never sleeps’ as audiences take the ride with Ratner in every down alley with eyes wide open.

The film serves as a modern take on man’s flaws and innate instincts to survive and how the city can push you to the brink of desperation with the lack of people’s decency in as the smoking gun. It effectively mirrors today’s culture and the cast of characters that all contribute to a decaying society.

Of course, the spotlight shines the brightest on Sandler’s performance (even if this year’s Academy Awards didn’t quite think so), rendering him a career-defining moment that finally unleashes his concealed yet truest dramatic chops way above his previous attempts in Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Funny People, and The Meyerowitz Stories.

Throughout the film, audiences will easily acquaint themselves with Ratner in how he seems to know everyone he comes across with. The empathy meter then boils over when viewers realize that despite his social position, he really can’t rely on anyone other than himself.

Uncut Gems is dark indeed but can be touted as one of the most significant films to come out in the same vein as Taxi Driver or Nightcrawler. It’s a worthy piece of cultural study that we can all go back to in the future whenever we find ourselves wondering where the hell everything went wrong.

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