Uncut Gems

Gillipedia Official Rating: Rocky

^took me about 10 seconds to think of that

            Just like actual uncut gems, this movie is rough around the edges. I went in all high and mighty with my prior knowledge to A24 films feeling confident I was in for another hard-hitting flick. And I feel like with just a few changes, the movie is well on its way to that status. But as it is now, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed.

            Before we move on to my factual opinions regarding this film, let’s talk about what we’re actually dealing with so far. Taking place over a couple of days, the film completely revolves around the chaotic mess that Adam Sandler’s Jewish jeweler (impossible to say Jewish jeweler quickly) character Howard has created for his business. He owns a high-end jewelry shop in Manhattan’s diamond district with big-ticket items. The problem is that he gets loans and proceeds to place risky parlay sports bets using that money, and evidently, it hasn’t all worked out. One of the highlights of the film is that we’re not given a history lesson on any of this. We’re able to put all the pieces together as we follow Howard around interacting with all of his associates.

            The basic formula for the film is a debtee comes to collect from Howard, and he either brushes him off or tries telling some form of a white lie. Howard proceeds to another location where he is hell-bent on one objective, and he ignores any obstacle in his way—and these obstacles come back in one way or another to his detriment. It’s in these moments that you see the best of Sandler and the failure of the film. These are supposed to be anxiety inducing, squirmy scenes. In one way I totally agree that watching Howard conduct business is hard to watch in a great way; however, it’s totally undermined by the score. Let me explain.

            Actually, before I explain, now is as good a time as any to discuss Sandler’s performance. Some of your thoughts may be along the lines of, “Wait! Adam Sandler from 50 First Dates and Happy Gilmore and Grown Ups?” Or, “Adam Sandler from all those failed Netflix movies is doing drama?” Or even, “You’re telling me the star of my favorite movie ever Pixels is in a serious role? Cool!” Regardless of how familiar you are with Sandler, it’s worth pointing out that over a decade ago he starred in a film called Punch-Drunk Love. That role still allowed Sandler his comedic moments, but it was a truly committed performance in a highly underrated film. The point is that it has been established that Sandler has acting chops with the right material. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that his performance here is Oscar worthy, but he’s perfect and transformative as the character and works really well.

            The other noteworthy person in this film is Kevin Garnett. The whole film takes place during his Eastern Conference Semis series with the Celtics against the 76’ers in 2012. It’s a smart choice considering he hasn’t aged in pretty much the 20 years he’s been playing in the league. It’s his film debut, and he holds his own. It also marks the debut for The Weeknd, but we don’t care about that. If you want a notable debut from a musician, check out something like John Legend in La La Land. And The Weeknd isn’t even the last debut we’re mentioning—it’s also the first film for Julia Fox who plays Sandler’s lover and sometimes employee. There was one line of dialogue in particular that stood out as bad writing for her character, but beyond that, I’m immensely impressed and look forward to seeing what else she’s in. And last but certainly not least, LaKeith Stanfield has a supporting role. He’s a tremendous actor that broke out in Donald Glover’s show Atlanta and has appeared in big movies like Get Out and Knives Out. The focus of the film is on Sandler at all times, so Stanfield’s role is delegated mainly to the background, and I think that’s a bit of a shame. Would’ve liked to have seen more of him in this. Oh, and Elsa from Frozen is here too.

            Now then, back to why the intensity of this film fails. I put the primary fault on the choice of score. There’s huge synth vibes straight out of Blade Runner running amok out here in the movie, and it’s one of the oddest choices I’ve seen. I’m a huge fan of the Blade Runner soundtrack, but I would never put it in this film. A lot of what’s supposed to be frenetic energy is lost here, and it’s a shame. The fix here would be to go largely drum-based and take a play out of Birdman’s handbook.

            All in all this film takes Spielberg levels of characters talking over each other and ramps it up to a 12. Yes, it’s interesting to see how Sandler’s debts start piling on top of each other, but there isn’t all that much variation in how these play out. There is a scene that let’s us breathe a bit where the family partakes in Passover celebrations, and I commend the film for it—it was interesting to look into a religion I don’t have much knowledge about. Then we get to the climax which was fun to watch and added much more tension because we were following both Sandler and Julia Fox. But I can’t say I’m happy with the finish. It makes sense in enough ways, but it’s also not satisfying. I was expecting a bit more grit out of this A24 film honestly. Not quite a winner for me.

 

In Brief:

I wonder how Joss Whedon feels about the Snyder cut.