Perhaps no film in the history of cinema has been made with more of my interests in mind than Uncut Gems, the latest thriller from Josh and Benny Safdie revolving around Adam Sandler gambling on basketball games with a soundtrack featuring Kendrick Lamar and Rich Homie Quan. A simple review would not do it justice, so I decided to break down my favourite or the most interesting aspects of this film and they just so happened to fit neatly into alphabetical order.
A is for Adam Sandler – I guess I should be honest immediately and admit that I am an Adam Sandler stan, an Adam Standler if you will. It began as a child when I would watch Big Daddy (Dennis Dugan, 1999) on repeat and flourished over time to the point where I watched all of his films on Netflix with my ex, which probably explains why we are no longer together. I feel like he has always been unfairly maligned, becoming the butt of jokes like Michael Bay for teenagers who haven’t seen their best work and although he has received some acclaim for dramatic performances in the past like in Punch Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002) it has never been like this. Sandler’s greatness is impossible to deny in Uncut Gems, this is his Lebron James 2016 Game 7, this is a movie star performance. His charisma is palpable in every shot he’s in, which is almost every single one, as his face is front and centre often taking up most of the screen. At times he is seedy and cowardly but at other moments he shows a rarely seen level of vulnerability. Yet, we are always empathetic towards him, because no matter how many Gucci shirts he buys or people he wrongs he is a truly tragic figure.
B is for Bling – No single piece of jewellery from this film is more iconic than the diamond Furby, but the crucified Michael Jackson comes close. These pieces tell us everything we need to know about Howard (Sandler); these items are garish and probably wouldn’t be sold by other jewellers, but they have a home in his store. This is where kitsch lives and you can’t look away from these items, they demand your attention, as does Howard. Howard deals in pieces other people won’t and with customers other people won’t because he’s one of them. He’s the gambler only certain bookies will deal with. The bedazzled Furby is outlandish but is so true to the character and the time, this is when Nikita was getting vajazzled on Tallafornia and only a few years removed from Gucci Mane’s iconic Bart Simpson chain.
C is for Colonoscopy – Our introduction to Howard Ratner is via his asshole. This is the perfect introduction as Howie is an asshole, albeit a lovable one. In true Eddie Guerrero fashion, he lies, he cheats, and he steals but we still want him to succeed. Not only is Howard an ass but he lives in the asshole of the world too. The diamond district of New York City may not sound like a dark and dirty place but in Uncut Gems, it sure is filled with douches.
D is for Deafening – Uncut Gems was released on Netflix outside the United States, which is great because that means it’s easily accessible for lots of people but it also doesn’t feel the same as watching a film on the big screen with a crowd. If Uncut Gems is screening near you, please go and see it, not just because it looks stunning but because it sounds incredible too. When discussing the Safides, Sidney Lumet is mentioned a lot as an inspiration but the influence of Altman and films like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971) in particular can be seen in this film. It is frantic, loud, and features so many characters talking at once over background noises that trying to focus on just one is tough, which builds the tension as you desperately want to know what’s happening. So many of the settings in this film are crowded and raucous that you never feel at ease in them. If you have a serious sound system then go ahead and stream it but please don’t watch it on your phone on the bus.
E is for Energetic – I was so delighted after Uncut Gems that I had to go and see it again immediately. Yet, each time I have overheard people describe it as incredibly stressful. Those people are right: from the opening shot this film continually builds and builds until its crescendo. The energy of this film slots in perfectly among other New York-based thrillers such as Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973) and King of New York (Abel Ferrara, 1990). Maybe no other filmmaker has shot New York better than Scorsese and his fingerprints are all over this film from the protagonist’s journey, to the soundtrack, to the acts of violence. The energy of the city is not only present in the more manic moments of the film but also in the smaller relationship-driven sequences as Howard and Julia (Julia Fox) continue the legacy of legendarily loud New York couple Loretta and Ronny from Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987).
F is for Family – No, not the Bill Burr show. Family is at the heart of this film as it is with the Safdies’ Good Time (2017) and Daddy Longlegs (2009) too. Whether it is showing how addiction can tear a family apart or Howard attempting to make his father-in-law proud. Family rivalries have always made for great stories: they are mythological, Shakespearean, biblical stories such as the story of Jacob and Esau from ‘The Book of Genesis’ in which two brothers quarrel over the love of their parents, before their eventual reconciliation. Howard and Arno (Eric Bogosian) aren’t blood-relatives, but they are family. Howard is a fuckup, he’s a cheater and a degenerate gambler, but he has the respect of his father-in-law, Gooey (Judd Hirsch) because he has a magnetic personality and can charm almost anyone, unlike the steely Arno. As the relationship deteriorates further and further with every resurfacing of Howard’s pool, in the end, his family are the most forgiving.
G is for Gambling – As with family, addiction is a common theme of Josh and Benny’s films, such as Heaven Knows What (2015), and they continue this thread by examining gambling in Uncut Gems. Gambling isn’t seen in the same way as hard drugs when it comes to addiction. You’d never see Ray Winstone’s floating head advertising heroin at half-time in a football game but it’s a serious illness that can have detrimental and devastating effects. It probably shouldn’t be seen in the same way as those hard drugs either because I have nice memories of helping my Grandad pick horses as a kid and thankfully no memories of him snorting coke, but maybe, like alcohol, it shouldn’t be pushed as much as it is now by sponsoring podcasts, having celebrity spokesmen, and being the kings of lad twitter. In a casino, the house always wins, unless you have just been transported back from the black lodge and become Mr. Jackpots, and it’s the same for Howard. He’s playing with the house’s money and they come to collect.
H is for Higher Power – Many characters in this film seem to be guided by a power greater than themselves. Kevin Garnett (himself) must own the opal as he feels that it’s almost a part of him, it gives him strength and guidance, and without it he is vulnerable. Howard is also guided by the gem, which is why he spent so much time and money tracking it down, he feels that he needs it to succeed. Gambling is another force that controls Howard, his addiction has incredible strength and power over him and even when he knows deep down that he should stay away, he cannot control himself. Just as he cannot control himself around Julia even in his moments of annoyance with her, she appears in the club as bright as the North Star, a literal guiding light and the one true force that has Howard’s best interests at heart. Perhaps it was a higher power too which, for the majority of the movie, separated Howard from immediate danger by only a door. But, in the end, Howard is in control of his own actions and must be prepared to deal with the consequences of his indiscretion, as the Old Testament teaches us that higher powers can take away just as much as they give.
I is for Idina Menzel – If casting Adam Sandler as their lead wasn’t enough of a middle finger from the Safdies, hiring Idina Menzel to be his wife made it abundantly clear that they could not care less about public perception or that they care very much about subverting people’s opinions. This is her first non-animated theatrical role since breaking onto the world stage with Frozen (Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee, 2013). In that period of time, her biggest moment was probably John Travolta mispronouncing her name, but she gets to shine bright in Uncut Gems. Menzel incredibly plays off of Sandler; her face displays such disdain for his childish antics and it really makes you wonder why it has taken this long for her to be cast in a role like this. As Howard stumbles through his increasingly tight world, moving from one misstep to another, Dinah never falters, she understands where her life is at and knows where she wants it to be. While Howard may be able to outsmart most other people he comes in contact with, he never has the upper-hand on Dinah.
J is for Julia Fox – The other woman in Howard’s life and the breakout star of the film. Julia Fox shows how incredible the casting team for this film was as her performance has been heralded since its release. One of the primary aspects of her role that has been discussed is its sexiness which is completely understandable especially with the lack of sexiness in modern Hollywood movies, but Julia’s relationship with Howard is beautiful. She is incredibly caring, buying his favourite food before he arrives, neither of them go back to the apartment after their argument so they can have space and she even tattoos his name on her so that he knows it’s real. From the first moment we meet her, Howard cannot resist her and it’s not hard to understand why, when we see her glowing like an angel in the club.
K is for Khondji – This film looks incredible, which should come as no surprise to fans of the Safdies’ previous work, but none of them have looked quite like this. The Safdies collaborated with Darius Khondji on this film, while they had worked with Sean Price Williams to flood the screen with neon lights in Good Time. Khondji is a well-decorated Director of Photography (DOP) having created the entrancing jungle in Lost City of Z (James Gray, 2016), and the desolate wasteland of Se7en (David Fincher, 1995). His expertise is helpful here as the camera is unafraid to move in extremely tight on Sandler’s face in his most vulnerable and distressing moments as the world around Howard closes in.
L is for Lakeith Stanfield – From one of the best working cinematographers in Darius Khondji to one of the best working actors in Lakeith Stanfield. Since his breakout role in Short Term 12 (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013), he has gone on to give an iconic performance in Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017), work with icons such as Rian Johnson and Boots Reilly, and, oh yeah, be a lead in the best non-Twin Peaks television show (Atlanta) of the 2010s, including being the star of its most famous episode. All this amazing work has had an adverse effect and given him the breathing room to make some not-so great Netflix films such as Someone Great (Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, 2019) and Death Note (Adam Wingard, 2017), but the less said about those the better. His character in Someone Great and Uncut Gems have one thing in common, which is that they both enjoy live music but thankfully he has upgraded his guests from Gina Rodriguez to Trinidad Jame$. In the club scene especially, Lakeith gets to show off how effortlessly cool he is, which is a lost art in lead actors.
Half-Time
