![]() ![]() He has played many lovable goofballs throughout his long career in light-hearted comedies and rom-coms here, he plays a repulsive goofball in a gritty thriller with impressive authenticity. Sandler, in particular, plays the role of Howard Ratner in full command of his talents. ![]() Virtually every cast member gives an incredible performance. Directors Josh and Benny Safdie do an excellent job of creating the film's opulent-but-grimy aesthetic and managing its relentless pacing. The only element that prevents “Uncut Gems” from descending into absolute chaos is the impressive control displayed by the film’s cast and crew. Ratner embodies some of our worst tendencies as people, but the very fact that we can recognize some of those very tendencies in our own actions makes his demise all the more upsetting. “Everything I do is not going right,” he sobs to his mistress Julia, expressing a painful, universal sentiment of powerlessness. Ratner is impossible to root for, but his unmistakably human flaws make him too pitiful and, frankly, too alarmingly relatable to dismiss. Nearly every scene brings with it a new conflict, very few of which achieve any satisfying resolution. Audiences bear witness to shocking violence, crippling addiction, a crumbling marriage, disappointed children, misogyny, antisemitism, and pure humiliation. The film revels in its portrayal of human cataclysm. Even R&B artist The Weeknd makes a brief cameo in which he temporarily tempts Ratner’s younger mistress away from him at a performance. His wife (Idina Menzel) exerts her own power over her husband by demanding a divorce despite his protests. Ratner’s young employee Demany (LaKeith Stanfield) holds power over him because he single handedly brings Ratner a large portion of his clientele (including Garnett). ![]() NBA player Kevin Garnett (playing himself) borrows his valuable Ethiopian gem for a little bit longer than he was supposed to. Debt collectors pursue him and threaten him with physical violence throughout the film. ![]() Nearly every other character in the film takes power away from Ratner at one point or another. Through the very experience of watching Ratner’s fleeting highs and relentless lows, the audience is made to understand the frenetic, frustrating nature of gambling addiction. As Ratner squanders chance after chance for redemption by relapsing into gambling, his nerves become increasingly fraught and his eventual downfall feels more and more inevitable. Among its many strengths, the film succeeds as an exploration of addiction. The movie follows Ratner as he attempts to pay back his gambling debt by selling the titular “uncut gem” that he sources from Jews in Ethiopia his primary setbacks arise because each time he gets lucky and makes some money, he turns around and places yet another bet. The experience of watching “Uncut Gems” is one of relentless, visceral discomfort. Nonetheless, it hurts to watch power being wrested from his hapless hands at every turn. His slimy appearance, gratuitous cursing, and apparent disdain for his responsibilities as a father cast him in an immediately unlikeable light. This film is not a cautionary tale, nor is it a story of redemption - it is a portrait of one man’s steady, irrevocable loss of power.Įven as he cries, begs, and screams on screen, Ratner does little to engender sympathy from the audience because it is hard to attribute blame for his struggles to anybody other than himself. Howard Ratner, played brilliantly by Adam Sandler, is a New York City jeweler with a severe gambling problem whose life painfully unravels despite his desperate attempts to fix it. ![]()
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