Filmmaking duo Josh and Benny Sadie blast their audience out of a cannon for just over two hours with this one. Both creating an unrelenting sense of anxiety and hurtling momentum that comes to an explosive simmer by the conclusion.
Uncut Gems Review
This film won’t be for everyone – it’s loud, it’s hyper-aggressive, and it’s very, very vulgar. Sandler’s performances is “so good” that it transcends the end-of-the-year quest for awards.
The Safdies and co-writer Ronald Bronstein continually stack the deck against their colorfully volatile main character. Devising all sorts of ways to amp up the stress in his dangerous world.
With multiple parties all trying to corner Howard and force him to repay his debts, or worse. Adam Sandler goes all-in and delivers nothing short of a tour de force performance. Up there with his career-best work in Punch-Drunk Love.
The in-the-moment-narrative starts off at an Ethopian Jewish mining company where a worker has discovered an absurdly expensive black opal. The opal is then sent to NYC for Howard to attempt to sell.
But nothing goes as planned when NBA-star Kevin Garnett (playing himself rather well) shows up at Howard’s shop. Garnett essentially demands that he purchase the opal before it’s set to go to auction.
I’m hesitant to say anything more about the busy and frenetic plot because part of this movie’s brilliance is how Howard consistently squirms out of these situations by the seat of his pants, yet always having to look over his shoulder.
The finale is lunatic-crazy and will likely be off-putting to many viewers, but in all honesty, I can’t imagine this movie concluding in any other fashion.
Legendary shooter Darius Khondji’s gritty, ultra-long-lens, 35 mm cinematography is utterly phenomenal.
Uncut Gems review by Nick Clement
Summary
Uncut Gems feels like a Robert Altman Film dipped in crystal meth with tons of over-lapping dialogue. Eric Bogosian, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, Mike Francesa and a foaming-at-the-mouth-mad Keith Williams Richards all deliver vivid supporting performances.
