Uncut Gems

New York City jeweler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) has a gambling addiction, a massive debt to his brother-in-law Arlo (Eric Bogosian), a soon-to-be-ending marriage to Dinah (Idina Menzel), and an affair with much younger employee Julia (Julia Fox). His associate Demany (Lakeith Stanfield) introduces him to basketball star Kevin Garnett, who takes an immediate liking to a large uncut opal that Howard has acquired. Soon the jeweler begins to concoct a longshot betting scheme that will make his troubles go away, if Arlo’s goons don’t get the better of him.

Directed by the Safdie Brothers, Uncut Gems is kind of a throwback to a gritty 1970s crime drama albeit with more humor and a contemporary setting. These derivations do little to enhance it, however, and it often comes across as a reminder of how better – or at least how different – a film it could have been if other artistic choices were made.

Sandler, a divisive actor, is actually the least of the problems here. He does an excellent job of embodying Howard, and the character is a bit of a departure from his usual idiot manchild shtick. However, Howard still makes for a highly unsympathetic protagonist. Lacking both the pathos of Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler or the cunning and charisma of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, Sandler’s take on a morally compromised protagonist is a pushy, annoying, slimy loser. He isn’t helped by a supporting cast that leans heavily into stereotype territory, squandering the talents of Menzel, Stanfield, and Judd Hirsch. Amusingly, Garnett (superstitious) and The Weeknd (flirtatious and egotistical) play less-than-flattering versions of themselves, but Fox (a subversion of a gold-digger) and Bogosian (exasperated and put-upon despite being the nominal aggressor) are probably the most interesting characters here.

Aesthetically, the film sadly mistakes bustle and bombast for texture. There is an almost constant stream of chatter, and not since Birdman’s constant drumming has a score (by Daniel Lopatin in this case) felt so distracting and obtrusive. The film’s closing shot consciously mirrors one of its opening shots, lazy visual shorthand for making a thematic connection.

There are moments of tension and excitement here, and the Safdie Brothers have obvious vision and passion for their subject matter. However, the same holds true for Spike Lee, whose underrated (and, in some ways, equally excess-prone) 25^th Hour suggests that a New York film about a fringe criminal confronted by the consequences of his actions needn’t be this hard to like.