Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) cannot help himself to another bet. Obsessed with beating the odds, he has dug himself into a hole with his brother-in-law (Eric Bogosian).
With time running out to pay him back, Howard pulls out every trick he knows to get out of the red. If he lives long enough...
Jesus H Roosevelt Christ.
Just when you think contemporary blockbusters have forgotten how to get pulses racing, along come a couple of down and dirty independents to show the so-called big boys how it is done.
After the adrenaline rush of their last opus Good Time, the Safdie brothers upped the ante with Uncut Gems. If you thought Good Time was intense, Uncut Gems is that experience on steroids.
I hate watching movies on my laptop, but I was so focused on this movie I did not get distracted by any of the usual noise (like anything relating to the internet).
I had a conversation with someone who did not like the movie because they did not find Howard likeable.
I will not dismiss this person’s opinion - it is valid to not like something for any reason - but it did spur me to consider what draws me toward a character.
Likability is such a subjective term. It also does not apply in every case.
I think about a movie like Patton, where the central character is shown to be brilliant at something specific, but is otherwise selfish and self-destructive.
Or Day of the Jackal, where we are aligned with the perspective of an assassin as he plots murder.
It comes down to what makes this character, and their story compelling?
If the character is presented with specificity, and their motivations clearly defined, then it does not matter if their nature and goals align with the viewer.
If the filmmakers immerse the viewer in the world of a specific character, then we become compelled to watch.
We want to see if this character will succeed.
We want to see what will happen, and how these characters will react.
It also comes down to the performance, and Adam Sandler is absolutely mesmerising.
With his machine gun patter, Sandler is always moving, always spinning, always selling.
Every time it seems like he could get out of trouble, the film throws Howard another opportunity to make an extra buck, he jumps at it, and the stakes escalate even higher.
By the time he is making his final, unbelievable bet, it feels both frustrating and inevitable.
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