Mr. Movie: ‘Uncut Gems’ is a gem

For years I’ve preached that Adam Sandler is a great actor. I’ve attacked him the same number of years for wasting all that talent in dumb comedies where at 50+ he’s still doing fart jokes.

Once in awhile — like here — Sandler gives actual acting a shot. And each time — “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Reign Over Me,” and “Spanglish” among them — his performance got raves.

“Uncut Gems” is directed by Bennie Safdie and Josh Safdie and is written by both Safdies and their co-writing partner Ronald Bronstein. The three men can best be described as doing the kind of films Joel and Ethan Coen did early in their career.

Their movies have a distinct edge.

The Safdies flicks have a raw, hard, and real flavor and are packed with highly flawed, very warped, and somewhat eccentric characters. Plots are complicated and in this case, a bit convoluted. The Safdies (“Good Time”) are also very fond of real-life, and shocking climaxes.

I’m really fond of movies featuring that kind of plot movement and can’t resist a heavy climax.

Of all of Sandler’s attempts at drama, this one is the best. My former favorite is “Reign Over Me.” A big part of the reason this is a better performance comes because of the character. The film is set in 2012. Sandler’s Howard Ratner is a jeweler who is battling with a bunch of flaws. He’s not working all that hard at overcoming them but once in awhile he makes an attempt.

Howard is self-absorbed, cruel and — worst of all — impulsive. Dangerously so.

Ratner has a major league gambling problem, lives on his phone, and is always a payment behind to whoever he’s scamming at the moment. Predictably, he has a beautiful young mistress. Howard’s wife and daughter can’t stand him, his two sons wonder about him, his employees hate him and the people he does business with suspect him.

Then there’s the Jewish business man that Howard owes a huge sum of money. His goons harass Howard non-stop. That harassment is often violent.

In spite of all those problems, and all of his imperfections, and all of those self-induced struggles, Howard has managed to scored the gem of a lifetime. He thinks it’s worth $1 million and considers it the solution to all of his money problems. Along comes basketball great Kevin Garnett. Playing himself — and not doing too badly — Garnett falls in love with the gem and pushes Howard to sell.

He can’t. It’s scheduled for auction.

However, as a nice gesture, and because he’s a big fan, Howard lets Garnett — then playing with the Boston Celtics — take the gem to a playoff game in Philadelphia. When Garnett fails to return it on time, that propels Howard to even more crises, and the need for more money picked up in the proverbial borrowing from Peter to pay Paul way.

Sandler has the manic energy needed for the character. Get plenty of rest before you see this one. Watching Howard keep all the balls in the air in his money juggling act is exhausting. This is a very difficult role and it also had to be quite taxing on Sandler.

At the same time, he has to be more proud of his effort here than of anything he’s ever done.

The other performance getting accolades is that of newcomer Julia Fox. She’s Julia, Howard’s mistress. Julia is young, a total party animal and one of the balls Howard is constantly juggling. Fox’s performance is interesting. She lands somewhere between a total innocent and a hardcore slut and does it perfectly.

It’s superb work.

“Uncut Gems” has people talking. Unfortunately, the Hollywood Foreign Press ignored Sandler’s incredible performance — and that of Fox and this movie — when it announced the Golden Globe nominations earlier this month. Since then the buzz has grown and more people are aware of the movie. Hopefully the Academy will correct that when the Oscar nods are handed out early next year.

“Uncut Gems” isn’t for everyone but for those loving something a bit darker, this uncut gem, with its first-rate performances and outrageous, high-energy story, is a real gem.

▪ Rated R for language, violence, sex and mature themes. It’s playing at the Fairchild Cinemas Southgate 10 and Pasco 12 and at the AMC Classic Kennewick 12.

▪ Rating: 5 out of 5

This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 5:06 AM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘Uncut Gems’ is a gem."