I’ll tell you what I know. It’s the dumbest ******’ bet I ever heard of.
I disagree, Gary. I disagree.
With Uncut Gems, The Safdie Brothers have crafted yet another idiosyncratic, unsettling, immersive, pitch-black slice of thrilling nihilism. In the film, Adam Sandler plays a jewelry dealer with what we slowly come to realize is a truly profound gambling addiction, an addiction that takes in all the usual avenues of gambling, but also bleeds into his professional life and his increasingly risky behavior. Sandler is really fantastic in the role. I think I’m on board saying that it’s his best performance and the way his performance, and the film in general was snubbed by the Academy Awards is downright shameful. He’s playing a guy who’s basically just an unrepentant piece of ****. He’s obnoxious, frustrating and extremely unlikable. And the viewer never really empathizes with him, I don’t think; I didn’t at least. I’ve seen this being used as a knock on the film and I’ll agree that I often prefer to find a way to empathize with even unlikable protagonists, but Sandler’s performance/character really worked for me here without that.
He’s backed up by a stellar ensemble. Eric Bogosian, venerable character, gives one of the best performances of his long career as Arno; he’s initially presented as a thug, but his character deepens in some surprising ways. Kevin Garnett is surprisingly excellent as what I certainly hope is a heightened, unlikable version of himself. Idina Menzel, of all people, is wonderful as Sandler’s perpetually infuriated wife and she gets one of the best monologues in the movie. Lakeith Stanfield is as great as he always is; it’s a little disappointing when he disappears from the movie for around an hour, but he’s great when he’s on screen and he’s a guy that you always wish was in a movie more, so nothing new there I guess. And Keith Williams Richards deserves special note as a genuinely terrifying gangster.
This is just a hell of a movie, yet another absolute triumph from the Safdies. It’s a movie I’ll admit that I struggled with a bit while watching it, even as a huge fan of the Safdies’ intense and unique filmmaking style, but it’s only grown in my estimation since I saw it and it’s now right up there as one of two or three favorite films of the year, a gripping and consistently compelling film that never really pauses for breath. This is filmmaking right out there on the edge, filmmaking on a tightrope. It’s not what one traditionally calls an “epic,” but it’s a spectacle for sure. 4 stars.
tl;dr – unique, breathless and consistently compelling film boasts a great ensemble and a career-best lead performance from Sandler; another triumph for the Safdies. 4 stars.