Dir; The Safdie Brothers. Starring; Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett. R. Color. 135 minutes.
Once again Adam Sandler proves that when he pares up with exceptional and original filmmakers he can make something real beyond a “Grown Ups” sequel. “Uncut Gems” is about a man trying to do his best high wire act in real life. Rubbing elbows with top tear celebrities as well as shady gangsters is not necessarily a phrase that you would believe go together. “Uncut Gems” keeps that term authentic in a surprisingly unique way.
“Uncut Gems” is the follow up to the Safdie Brothers inexplicably good and Cannes Film Festival nominee “Good Time”, starring Robert Pattison. Yeah, the “Twilight” guy made some real stuff just like Sandler does here. This film was written 10 years ago and Sandler dismissed it because who the hell are the Safdie brothers? Until they made it to Cannes. True story.
Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler always on the hunt to sell that one big item. Howard has a knack for pissing off the wrong people including his ex-wife, his mistress, a mafia group which he owes more than $100,000, and NBA Hall of Fame Inductee Kevin Garnett. I mean, what a crew!
This character upsets and lets down literally everyone, which is what makes “Uncut Gems” so viscerally authentic. A person who smuggles in Ethiopian opal gemstones to re-sell in order to get that extra dollar is the epitome of this guy. He is not the devil, but man is this cat willing to use someone after two seconds.
No doubt an adventure in humanity, “Uncut Gems” will take you on a roller coaster of a person that is a scumbag, but just a little bit of a scumbag when you step back and think about it. The editing and cinematography by the Safdie’s is top notch as always. Sandler is phenomenal, a phrase any film nerd finds hard to say. In the end “Uncut Gems” is a lot of fun if rich guys do not make you want to puke. You are not being real about rich a-holes if your favorite show is “Duck Dynasty”, check out their numbers. Just saying…
You will never find a point in which you are bored while watching “Uncut Gems”. This picture is good at looking at both the good and bad, and yes there is the level of rich people-ness. It is however not blatant. A tip of my hat to you Adam Sandler. Now go back to making you’re shitty movies and leave the real stuff to the big boys please! Unless you want to make actual good material regularly, which I know you do not. You being in a genuinely good movie is hard to understand. Yet you are, and your performance is outstanding.
Suck Factor: 1out of 7 (7 means your movie really SUCKS!)
Written by Byrd
The SUCK FACTOR, how it works. We have flipped the rating system upside down. If a film is classic, it gets a 0. Meaning that movie has 0 SUCKS. If a film is complete trash you must avoid at all costs, it gets a 7, meaning this movie really SUCKS!
Greg Squared Films 