A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score, makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. Adam Sandler plays a brash, compulsive New York City jeweler and gambler in the latest from the Safdie brothers.
Uncut Gems is a 2019 American black comedy crime film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, from a screenplay by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie and Ronald Bronstein. The film stars Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, and Eric Bogosian.
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and is scheduled to be theatrically released on December 13, 2019 by A24. The film has received universal critical acclaim, with Sandler’s performance and the cinematography receiving much of the praise.
About the Story
Howard Ratner, the protagonist of the supremely tense new thriller Uncut Gems, receives one of the most memorable introductions in film history: Colon first, as seen through the camera probing his innards as part of a colonoscopy. This is an image rich with meaning. Does Howard’s barren digestive track reflect that he’s emotionally empty inside? Is his butt-first intro a playful clue that Howard is, at his core, an a—hole? Or maybe directors Josh and Benny Safdie, want to signal the audience that they plan to examine Howard’s life with the thoroughness of a gastroenterologist as they check a digestive system for lumps. Whatever the intention, there’s a lot going on in Howard’s innards.
Howard’s gut doctor is only the first and most pleasant person up Howard’s ass in Uncut Gems. Mind you, he deserves the discomfort. In purely technical terms, Howard (Adam Sandler) is a f—-up. His wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) even calls him a f—-up to his face. She means it, and she is correct. He’s already destroyed their marriage by shacking up with one of his jewelry-store employees, a sweet (but perhaps not-entirely-faithful) younger woman named Julia (Julia Fox). Howard tries to pretend there’s still hope for him and Dinah; he schleps out to the burbs to tuck his kids into bed, and he keeps stalling for more time before they announce their separation to their families. But Dinah knows the the score; Howard’s a f—-up.
Sleeping with one of his employees is the least of Howard’s problems at work. He seems to owe money to everyone else in Manhattan’s Diamond District — mostly gambling debts — and he’s long since run out of Peters to rob to pay Paul. His only shot at getting his head above water is the giant, uncut opal he just smuggled out of Ethopia. Howard believes this stone will fetch a million bucks at auction. First, though, he needs to get the stone to the auction, a difficult task since Howard — who, again, is a f—-up — reluctantly loans the gem to NBA star Kevin Garnett (playing himself), who falls head over heels with the rock when Howard shows it to him in an ill-advised moment of egomania.
Howard’s decision to lend KG the opal has a cascading effect, and sends him pinballing through NYC as he tries to retrieve his jewel, avoid his debt collectors (including a truly frightening one played by Eric Bogosian), and scrounge the cash he needs to place even more bets. Along the way he digs himself into a hole so deep it makes the mine in Ethiopia where the opal came from look like a puddle on Sixth Avenue. In almost every situation Howard makes the wrong choice — but each makes absolute sense from his warped perspective, making it very easy to get sucked into his titanic struggle for survival.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Directed by: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Starring: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, The Weeknd, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Aranbayev, Jacob Igielski, Paloma Elsesser, Noa Fisher, Tommy Kominik, Eric Bogosian, Sean Ringgold
Screenplay by: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie
Production Design by: Sam Lisenco
Cinematography by: Darius Khondji
Film Editing by: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie
Costume Design by: Miyako Bellizzi
Set Decoration by: Kendall Anderson
Art Direction by: Eric Dean
Music by: Daniel Lopatin
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use.
Distributed by: A24 Films
Release Date: December 13, 2019
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