Similar to the Safdie brothers previous feature, Good Time, this movie does not take its foot off the pedal from the moment it starts. Not only that, but much like Punch, Drunk, Love this feature reminds us, Adam Sandler is an amazing actor!
We follow the lifestyle of Howard Ratner (Sandler), a jeweller, in a mountain of debt blessed with the gift of the gab. Constantly trying to outrun his problems, both socially and professionally. On the surface, he’s simply a gambling-addicted jeweller, that despite being battered and bruised (and then some) by those he’s gotten on the wrong side of (namely the mob), he always manages to bounce back looking for the next big score.
Further insight into his life however and we begin to see the other layers that makeup Howard Ratner. His wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) and kids shine a light onto Howards more Jewish values and sensibilities. His young, attractive, somewhat dim-witted secretary/mistress completes this headache of a love triangle. Howard’s luck seems to have finally changed when he stumbles upon a rare uncut rock of Ethiopian gem. Although this wouldn’t be the movie it is without one solution being followed by numerous extra problems.
Howard as an individual seems to use the stress around him as a sort of jolt, as in, he’s at his best when under pressure. Constantly moving from one problem to another, with his impenetrable optimism. As an onlooker, however, it’s like watching multiple near-miss crashes, one after the other. Almost like the sensation you get when on a rollercoaster, this feature leaves you in a constant state of anxiety.
Alfred Hitchock described suspense as letting the audience know there’s a briefcase under a table that’s about to explode in fifteen minutes. As opposed to the audience being unaware of the bomb, you go from having a quick fifteen-second surprise, to fifteen minutes of suspense. This analogy seems very apt for Uncut Gems. Only, in this instance, there are multiple bombs throughout the feature and they don’t all fully detonate until the closing credits, giving you 2 hours and 15 minutes of constant suspense.
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