THRILL SCALE 1-10
7
HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?Yes, a couple years ago. I liked it a lot the first time, and I think I liked it even more this time
BEST SEQUENCE
When Howard watches the final, climactic basketball game on TV. A guy watching a televised basketball game might not sound like the most thrilling thing, but if you've seen the movie you know why it's actually pretty exciting
BEST LINE
“You know what, Howard? I think you are the most annoying person I have ever met. I hate being with you, I hate looking at you, and if I had my way, I would never see you again.” - Howard's wife, rebuffing Howard after he tries to salvage their soon-to-be-ended marriage (and to be clear, the only reason Howard tried to salvage the marriage was because he had recently broken up with his much younger girlfriend, after believing that she was cheating on him with The Weeknd; also, to be clear, The Weeknd is in this movie, as himself!)
92%
ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS
"Uncut Gems reaffirms the Safdies as masters of anxiety-inducing cinema -- and proves Adam Sandler remains a formidable dramatic actor when given the right material."
IMDB SYNOPSIS
"With his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive."
THOUGHTS
- In a way, on this viewing I saw Uncut Gems as kind of an interesting companion piece to Nightcrawler, which I reviewed just a few movies ago. Nightcrawler was about Lou Bloom, an unnerving and unfeeling sociopath. Jake Gyllenhaal gave him very few characteristics which could be considered charming, and yet, I kinda liked the guy, while definitely not ever wanting to meet someone like him in real life. Adam Sandler's character in Uncut Gems, Howard Ratner, is nowhere near as cruel or dangerous as Lou Bloom (well, not dangerous to anyone but himself, anyway), but he is tremendously obnoxious. Abrasive and vulgar, self-aggrandizing and yet pathetically self-pitying, he truly is one of the most annoying film characters I can think of. And yet! I kinda like the guy. The whole movie depicts a series of misfortunes falling on Howard's head, most of them resulting from the bad decisions made by Howard himself, but I still wanted to see him come out on top. And at this point I do want to acknowledge that gambling addiction is a mental disorder, so while it can't be denied that the choices Howard makes are bad ones, there's only so much judgement one should pass
- Of all the vices in the world, gambling is one that never got its hooks in me, particularly sports gambling. And while the compulsion can be terribly destructive, this movie kind of made me understand why it's so thrilling and addictive for some. Like I mentioned above, during the climactic scene you definitely feel the tension in watching this basketball game play out
- And speaking of basketball, I know very little about it, and I know even less about Kevin Garnett, specifically. He plays himself in this movie, though, and he's a pretty good actor! He doesn't have a whole lot of heavy lifting to do, but he's convincing and has good screen presence
- As I mentioned before when I reviewed 12 Angry Men, usually my Thrill Score roughly lines up with my general approval for a movie, but there are times when I think a movie as a whole is of higher quality than just whatever number I assign to say how thrilling it was. Uncut Gems has often been praised as tense and anxiety inducing, but I didn't really find myself feeling all that anxious while watching it, even though I could recognize what aspects of the movie might inspire anxiety in other viewers. So, while for me it's not one of the most thrilling movies I've reviewed, I do think it's pretty high up just in terms of being a good movie, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet
Up next: Another new movie for me, Ichi the Killer. Also the last readers' choice movie from this group of 10, after which we'll be diving back into the American Film Institute's list!
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