A24’s gritty drama Uncut Gems is a box office sleeper hit. The Safdie brothers-directed film has grossed $36,813,107 since its wide opening on Christmas.
Uncut Gems is about an ambitious New York jeweler who tries scheme after scheme to expand his wealth, but ultimately ends up with the shorter end of the stick.
The two-hour whirlwind of a film rates 8 out of 10 on IMDB.com and has a Metascore of 89. Rotten Tomatoes better represents the reception of the film with critics giving the Adam Sandler led film a 92 percent certified fresh rating and audiences scoring the film at a rough 52 percent. CinemaScore gave the film a C+.
There’s no question that this film causes anxiety with its chaotic plot and unrefined script. A couple of Bayer aspirins and anti-anxiety pills would help audience members digest Uncut Gems.
The cast is appealing, starring blossoming talent Julia Fox, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett, Judd Hirsch, and Eric Bogosian.
Critics focus more on Sandler’s ability to bring the character Howard Ratner to life. But, it appears at the look of things, they have to.
Daniel Lopatin’s music score is fitting for the film, creating an organic feeling of danger, mystery and hope at the same time. The cinematography captures the essence of the desperate state of the film’s characters, often adding the last ting of irony needed to make each scene believable.
Even the beginning of the story sets audiences up with anticipation and a desire to see Howard win. But then, the movie falls quickly into a downward spiral when it comes to the realization that the script is not ingenious. There are so many vulgar curse words spawn throughout the dialogue, it’s distracting and overwhelming.
The dynamic between Howard and Demany, an unofficial jewelry broker played by LaKeith Standfield, is vacuous and pointless with the only redeeming entertainment being left in seeing Stanfield’s intriguing attempt to play a hip-hop inspired, culturally aware New Yorker reminiscent of the rapper ASAP Rocky.
With only three credits to her portfolio, fairly new actress Julia Fox is a nice exotic addition to Uncut Gems. Serving plump lips and big buttocks usually uncommon for a white girl, she revels in her sexuality exuding the culture of the modern day gold digger, also known as the “Instagram Thot”. Her silver screen presence as Howard’s mistress or side chick, along with the potential climatic collision with Howard’s wife Dinah (Idina Menzel), provides a moment of relief and an actual storyline amid the junky scenarios.
Kevin Garnett plays himself. But, oddly enough, he plays himself bad in a good way. The athlete serves as validation that Howard is a jeweler in high demand by the entertainment elite of the black community. Somehow Garnett, Stanfield and The Weeknd’s inclusion in the film adds to the “cool factor” that is misleadingly pushed in the trailer.
Uncut Gems is a whirlwind headache. Identifying the message out of the film is like squeezing water out of a rock. If you’re religious, it’s possible, but difficult. If there’s anything that can be taken away from it, it is that life is an ill-fated bet that you’re sure to lose.
Not inspiring at all, but for once Hollywood doesn’t succumb to the corniness of a happy ending. For once, the stupid suffers for their ignorance and even with that manifestation, Uncut Gems leaves you unsatisfied (and drained).
