Adam Sandler is a frustrating actor, he clearly has a talent for comedy and is often recognized as an iconic comedy actor of the nineties. Sandler’s career, however, dipped further and further as we entered the 21st century and Sandler’s films have been regarded as some of the worst money-making schemes to ever hit the big screen. I, myself, have not been the greatest fan of Sandler. Outside of his glory years during his time on SNL and a guilty pleasure of sorts in the form of ‘Funny People’, Sandler has grabbed the spot for my least favorite actor. Period. And yet, we come to a movie that encouraged Sandler to go further in his easy-low-brow humor that we’re all accustomed to. The independent movie makers, The Safdie Brothers, were insistent on casting an actor from their childhoods. And now that they had gained a reputation from previous successes, they could finally accomplish their dream. Uncut Gems is a far cry from Sandler’s comfort zone but it’s exactly that reason that made me appreciate this film so much more. This is Uncut Gems.
The story focuses on jeweler, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a man who consistent runs into debts, owing money to every loan shark in New York. Howard can’t help his impulsive gambling addiction and now he’s trying to pay off all his debts after he comes into the hands of an extremely rare gem. After letting an NBA player borrow the rock for good luck, he uses the player’s ring that was traded to him as a way to exploit more money from a group of criminals. Howard get’s in over his head as things go incredibly wrong for him. Despite his useless nature, Howard is given numerous chances. Outside of business, Howard is a family man with a wife and kids, but not even this can distract Howard from his habits as he consistently neglects his family and teeters on the edge of a rocky marriage. Howard is also cheating on his wife with an employee at his store named Julia (Julia Fox). Not only does Howard start to involve Julia in his misdeeds but his extended family are also used as pawns in his own self-centered journeys. In his world, Howard is the only thing that matters.
Skepticism towards whether Adam Sandler could actually deliver a compelling and complex performance such as this is to be expected, but Sandler somehow managed to completely subvert these expectations. Howard is a very loathsome character, his constant gambling coupled with his neglectful duties as a family man is almost completely volatile, but that is the entire core of what makes this character so endearing. Sandler delivers a performance that seems so out of his element but he slips into it quite naturally. It does take some time to disassociate Sandler’s presence from the character but the circumstances that he ends up in give him a distinct personality. However, Howard’s main issue is that there isn’t really a sense of relatibility or even any likability. You find yourself enjoying the ridiculous schemes that Howard ends up in but not once do you find yourself rooting for him. Many other movies have focused on the entirely flawed hero before but there is usually some sense of likability. You usually view that person in their prime, when they were almost innocent to the seedier world so you grow with that character and you can root for them to get better, but Uncut Gems lacks that connection, Howard is a terrible person through and through. This did not take away from Sandler’s performance however, it comes down to more than just simply seeing Sandler play against his type and became a constant source of entertainment.
The film’s purpose is to show the extent of an addictive nature. The addiction isn’t in the form of the standard drug or alcohol abuse but more so the constant need to gamble away as much money as you can get. People who struggle with gambling addictions desire the prospect of consistently making more and more money and Howard is the catalyst of that inherent addiction. It’s always Howard’s priority, he’ll bring other people into his money-making schemes, all to fill his cravings. His affair with Julia only adds to this addiction, he feels a sense of power and this innate thrill. Howard convinces Julia to put herself into danger, even when it seems like he’s starting to mend his life, his efforts aren’t rewarded. The movie has this tonal balance between dark comedy and serious drama. Because of Howard’s addictions, he is never given the satisfaction he craves for very long. Howard is thrown into ridiculous situations but these are stemmed from very serious actions. This blend is seamless and it never suffers from contradictory themes. Just hearing that Sandler is roped himself into another ‘wacky’ comedy can throw people off but the film goes far deeper and actually dares to give Sandler something unique.
Uncut Gems was a cautious watch for me, I typically stay away from anything with Sandler’s face plastered onto it but the story and tone caught my eye. I have always dismissed even the most popular films in Sandler’s career like ‘The Wedding Singer’ or ‘Happy Gilmore’ so I had myself questioning whether this was just a simple bias against the actor. Uncut Gems is a movie that I couldn’t possibly deny the quality of, it’s incredibly engaging and well balanced with it’s dual focus of comedy with drama. While I understand that Howard is not supposed to be remotely likable, it does somewhat detract from my experience. It’s hard to even care about a character with no redeemable qualities and by the film’s end, I was completely indifferent to Howard’s fate. The ending, overall, left me incredibly mixed and I didn’t entirely feel like it should have ended as it did. There isn’t much growth in the character and the film tries to make us sympathize with Julia despite her willingness to have an affair and even cheat on Howard as well. Despite these criticisms, I still really enjoyed the movie, seeing how far each little thing piles on top of one another is a fun and entertaining journey and the natural performances mixed with the seemingly improvised dialogue helped detract from those negative criticisms. I don’t think this film is quite Oscar worthy but it definitely changed my perspective on Adam Sandler. Check it out.
Written review by C. Johnson.