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When I say the name Adam Sandler, what will you think of? Shitty comedies, yep. With glorious motion pictures like, Jack and Jill (3% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), which he co-starred with 9-time Oscar nominee Al Pacino, The Ridiculous Six (0% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), which he directed and wrote the screenplay and the two Grown Ups movie (average 9.5% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Looking at Sandler's filmography in the 2010s, you would see flops after flops after flops. The once great comedy star has become the comedy genre’s equivalent of Nicolas Cage, starring in absurdly bad movies that wasted their talents. However, Cage at least has the excuse of his financial struggles, accepting a million movie offers is the only way for his financial numbers to stay above water. Sandler did not have that excuse. Why did Sandler make so many trash movies? He showed in films like Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer and of course, Saturday Night Live that he has the talent to make good comedies, so what happened here?
We will never know. The best works Adam Sandler, a famous comedian, puts out, are ironically, not comedies. Punch Drunk Love in 2002, which notched him a Golden Globe for Best lead Actor, Reign Over Me in 2009, which is well received by audience, and although the critical reception is lukewarm, Sandler’s performance was a highpoint of the movie. His supporting role in the Meyerowitz Stories in 2017 is praised as well. However, his cream of the crop performance undoubtedly comes in Uncut Gems, his work in collaboration with up and coming filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie along with the film itself, was one of the most egregious Oscars snub since Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance in Nightcrawler and that movie itself.
Uncut Gems stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, and future NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, and it was about a New York based jewelry trader and gambling addict Howard Ratner. Being chased by lenders of his massive debts caused by his gambling addiction, he makes one last bet, to save his life or just for the thrill of it.
Sports play a very important role in the movie. This is very much a sports movie. The climax of the movie is set in a real NBA playoffs, in the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals, between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. Howard was a huge sports fan, and he was a gambling addict. He bet on the game after selling his uncut gem to Kevin Garnett, who considered the gem to be his lucky stone. He bet on all sorts of ridiculously risky bets, including the jump ball, which is very hard to predict. Every sports fan ever attaches a lot to their team. Look at how happy the fans of Chicago Cubs of baseball was, when their team won their first world series (league champion) in 108 years in 2016, or the fans of Buffalo Bills of American Football, won their first playoff game since 1995 this year. Or how devastated fans are when their favourite team and athlete disappoints. I am still recovering from my favourite American Football team, Green Bay Packers’ heartbreaking conference championship game loss, and my most gutted moment comes from Formula one, where not in just one year, but in two consecutive years, my favourite driver Sebastian Vettel pisses away his championship run in Singapore and Germany. We all grow attached to sports, and is this good? Just don’t get too attached and do things detrimental to society because of your favourite athlete. On March 31, 2011, a 42-year-old Giants fan, Bryan Stow of Santa Cruz, California, was critically injured when he was fighting with two Dodgers fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the Dodgers and Giants opened the 2011 season. On September 25, 2013, after a Dodgers-Giants night game in San Francisco, a man, in self-defense, stabbed a Dodgers fan to death six blocks from AT&T Park. In 2010 the iconic trees of Auburn University in Alabama, United States were poisoned by a fan of the University of Alabama football team using a herbicide. This man, Harvey Updyke was sentenced to pay a fine and spend time in jail, after which time he would be placed on probation. Some people do these insane things just to, they want to do what exactly, show allegiance to their team? This is at best embarrassing, and at worse, unacceptable. Don’t get me mentioned on sports bettors, these people bet their entire savings onto sports, one of the most unpredictable things in the world. In 2019, the unheralded UMBC Retrievers were facing the University of Virginia Cavaliers, which was the overall first seed of the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, in the first round. Virginia was favoured by 20 points. In the end it was UMBC winning by 20, in the greatest upset in College Basketball history. Or in 2019, the Tampa Bay Lightning, fresh off the winningest regular season in NHL history, was swept in the first round by The Columbus Blue Jackets, who barely snuck in the playoffs after a late season push. Sports are incredibly hard to predict and those who put their life savings into are incredibly dim. These people and their obsession on paying off big, is damaging to themselves and the people around them, and Uncut Gems shows this in the worst ways.
The one defining trait for gambling addiction is the inability to stop. I covered this in my review of Casino (please go check it out.). And Howard is the perfect example of that. He owned his father in law a huge bunch of money. He owes a lot of money to his brother in law, due to gambling. Howard had an opportunity to pay off the debt, when Kevin Garnett came to his stone and offered to buy his uncut gem for a hefty sum. He chose not to sell him the gem, as he wanted to bet on the stone selling at a higher price at the auction. He lent the stone to Garnett for his playoff game in Philadelphia, in return, Garnett gave him his NBA Championship ring as a mortgage. He pawns the ring immediately, and what did he do with it? He bet on Garnett having a good game of course. Enraged by his action, his brother in law personally called off his bet, and ordered his goons to beat him up, for his relapse. He did not change, he kept betting and in doing so, is betting with his life as well. He knew the risk involved in his actions, but he chose not to stop, just for the thrill of winning. That’s why in the end, when he was killed after his brother in law’s henchman had enough of his crap, and decides to murder him and rob his shop, even though Howard’s bet on Garnett worked and netted him and his girlfriend a huge sum of money. Howard dies smiling, it is a perfect image of a gambler, win at all cost, even if you die trying. Like former Raiders owner Al Davis’s montra, “ Just win, baby.” This is not a novel problem either. In 2013, various surveys have determined that around two million people in the U.S. are addicted to gambling, and for as many as 20 million citizens the habit seriously interferes with work and social life. Gambling addiction is a serious issue, and it brings as much impact to those around them as the more commonly seen abuses, like drugs and alcohol. Uncut Gems really shows the severity of such addiction. From the numerous Hong Kong comedies, especially those starring Stephen Chow, to the endless “University students and professors scams Casino out of money using maths” movies that seemingly pops up every few years, these movies glorify gambling without addressing the impact of these acts. Uncut Gems face the real effect of uncontrolled lust of greed with such an impactful way that I appreciate a lot.
Uncut Gems was not liked by audiences. It got a 52% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which was lower than the unmitigated disaster known as Cats (Cats have a 53% audience score). There are three main reasons attributed to this. One, people think it is a normal Sandler movie, those silly comedies, where it is basically about Sandler and his friend going on vacation, these movies are infinitely more light hearted than what Uncut Gems really is. Those going in with the wrong expectation, will be more likely to be disappointed in the movie. These instances happened before. Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, was marketed as a Fast and Furious like fast paced action movie. Instead, it is a slow burning neo noir flick with not many action scenes. Blade Runner 2049, another movie starring Ryan Gosling, suffers from the same problem as well, a slow paced, more philosophical sci fi noir movie, marketed as something similar to Star Trek. However, Uncut Gems was not mismarketed as seriously as the above, audiences just have to do more research I guess. Second, people think there is too much swearing. In fact, Uncut Gems ranked fourth in terms most uses of the word fuck in a movie, with a total of 560 uses, averaging more than 4 fucks a minute. Some people really don’t like swears, so that’s fine, I guess, that's not an issue that will bother me, but everyone has their preference. Third, the movie is just too claustrophobic and too stressful for some people. I agree with this point of view, Uncut Gems is one of, if not the most nerve wracking movie I have ever seen. This effect is amplified by the loud score and the constant overlapping of dialogue, as Howard’s live is pretty much all in chaos, everyone is mad at him and want to gain something, therefore, most conversations in the movie devolves into a shouting match, with character wanting to rip the throats out of each other. This very high paced story doesn't help either, with very little downtime between the various plot points. There are no dragging parts in the film. Therefore, this is one of the most stressful film viewing experiences ever, and people did not like that. People want to relax while watching a movie, and escape from the anxiety and stress that get from their real lives, it is perfectly understandable. However, I think a movie’s purpose is to make its audience feel something. When you watch Schinder’s List, you feel sad, when you watch a Bond movie, you feel thrilled, when you watch The Exorcist, you feel scared, that’s what good art does, it makes you feel something and Uncut Gems is a very special movie.
Finally, let's talk about acting. Adam Sandler is a tremendous talent. A lot people assumed he was an untalented hack who was only coasting on his 90s fame. Which is a very logical assumption, as he looked awful in his early 2010s flop, where he didn’t even look like he was trying to act at all. He was just chilling with his friend in most of these movies or writing offensive scripts that looked like they belong in the 90s. However, audiences often underestimate the acting ability of comedians, especially when they play serious roles. Bryan Cranston was known as the goofy dad in Malcolm in the Middle, but now, he was known as the best actor in TV after his tenure in Breaking Bad. Matthew McConaughey was a romantic comedy leading guy for almost a decade before becoming one of the most respected actors after Dallas Buyers Club and the Wolf of Wall Street. Adam Sandler may have started his career revival with this movie. His performance is simultaneously powerful and believable. His portrayal of a man on a downward spiral for thrill and greed is incredible, with every little detail making the character more fleshed out.
Uncut Gems is great art. It is blasphemous for it not receiving the recognition it dues. It makes you reflect on fanaticism and the everlasting lust for thrill and money. Great Art makes their readers reflect on themselves and Uncut Gems is certainly that.
I will switch up the schedule and hop the current news train about the Gamestop short and do a two for one review next time, guess the next movie in the comments.
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