Uncut Gems

When final zoom in of Uncut Gems turns to black all you'll be fit for is your bed. Not because the film is bad though, but because it is truly exhausting. You'll be wrecked. You'll feel like you just did a full circuit of Ninja Warrior and a triathlon back to back. Then to top it off you'll have a strange new appreciation for Adam Sandler and if that's not cause to take to the cot I don't know what is.

Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is the most annoying person you'll ever met. According to his wife anyway. He's an asshole (we're introduced to him colon first btw), an egotistical and extremely selfish diamond dealer who lives for the thrill of the flutter. His life, when he isn't working in his shop or dealing with his estranged wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) is all about betting on basketball. When Howard bets, he bets big and when a Boston Celtics player by the name of Kevin Garnett (playing himself) falls for a big piece of uncut opal in his shop Howard thinks his luck has come in. Unfortunately for him he's up to his eyeballs in debt to a vicious loanshark called Arno (Eric Bogosian) and Arno's henchman Phil is getting mightily sick of the way Howard doesn't take his predicament seriously.

I was in the minority with the Safdie brothers last film, 2017's Good Time but this time they got me. There's nothing particularly new or fresh here but my word it's a pulsating and exciting watch. Like the city it's set in everything is heightened, everyone is stressed, everything is utter fucking DRAMA, making it a nailbiting watch. Even a simple conversation is a lesson in high tension. It's brilliantly done, not much happens and it still seems like the end of the world. Everything is down to Howard, his decisions, his awful decisions that effect everyone. You want to grab him and shake sense into him. He's a monster but an unmistakably human one, full of flaws and weaknesses. His uncontrolled id and selfish need to answer every urge make him into a character who'll enrage you but one you can't take your eyes off especially when everything comes to a bloody head. During a conversation with his doctor about his digestive system he talks about a lot of Jewish people dying from stomach issues caused by stress. If they're anything like Howard I can see why.

Adam Sandler is brilliant in the part. Funny, hateful, a Hebrew bull in a china shop. He's at the eye of the storm throughout the movie and he carries it effortlessly. There's been a lot of reasons to give up on him throughout this century but jesus he's mighty here. You have to ask yourself why he doesn't do more work like this. He's well capable of it and it's great to see a bit of life back in his eyes again. Is he afraid of alienating his core audience? I hope not because anyone who enjoyed his Netflix output of late deserves a kick up the arse (Ironically Netflix are distributing this).  There's flashes of the humour and rage he's best known for but his Howard isn't really like anything he's done before. He's quite remarkable in fact. He's a one man stress test who manages to make the wrong choice every single time. Honestly, this film is not good for the heart. #Anxiety

It's Sandler's show but everyone adds to the stew. Idina Menzel's Dinah is great. The moment she bubbles over and speaks her truth will cut you through the cinema screen. It's that good, a moment that you sense has been decades in the making and her laughter afterwards is cathartic even for us. Keith Williams Richards as the hair trigger henchman Phil is as scary as any Joe Pesci creation and in his acting debut basketball star Kevin Garnett really does well. Judd Hirsch performs his Jewish father figure ™ reliably as always, that mix of humour, annoyance and fear he has down to a tee. One brilliant sequence sees him letting himself be talked into a very very ill thought out plan and it's consequences are both hilarious and nerve wracking. Every cast member brings something to the table (keep an eye out for the bizarre cameo from John Amos, the original Kunta Kinte) but Adam Sandler is the hero of the day here. He is amazing to watch.

An immensely stressful but very entertaining film. It's well worth your time and it will give you an new appreciation for an actor you've probably written off decades ago. In selected cinemas now and on Netflix at the end of the month.