Movie Review: "Uncut Gems"

"Uncut Gems": B-.  Collectively, Adam Sandler movies, most of which are comedies, have a reputation among critics as a mixed bag. His reputation as an actor mirrors that of his films. He has won more Razzies for poor acting than any star not named Sylvester Stallone, yet he’s no doubt laughing all the way to the bank.  (His net worth is estimated to be $420 million; his current asking price is $20 million per film.)  Uncut Gems, a serious drama with few comic elements, may signal a new direction for the comedian’s career path.

Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jewelry store owner who repeatedly makes one horrible decision after another. It starts the day his business associate, Demany (Lakeith Stanfield), brings Kevin Garnett (playing himself) into the shop, which is located in Manhattan's Diamond District. The year is 2012, and KG is the key cog on the Boston Celtics.  Demany has informed KG about a mysterious rock roughly the size of a beer can, mined in the mountains of Ethiopia. It contains many gems of various colors still imbedded therein.  For reasons not fully explained, the rock is now in the possession of Ratner.  It had apparently been smuggled to him inside the body of a fish.  The curious KG arrives with his entourage and is quickly fascinated by what he sees.  He feels lots of mojo emanating from the rock; he's got to have it, at least on a trial basis for his next game.  The rock clearly has more upside potential as a talisman than a rabbit’s foot or other good luck charm.  Ratner knows KG is worth millions, but then so might the uncut gems, or so he has reason to believe. He agrees to allow KG to leave with the rock on the condition that Garnett put up collateral in the form of his beautiful emerald world championship ring from 2008, embossed with the Celtics logo.

That transaction sets off a chain of events which, given Ratner's circumstances and makeup, are almost inevitable.  Ratner is in debt up to his ears, and to make matters worse, he has a gambling addiction.  His creditors, one of whom is his brother-in-law, Arno (Eric Bogosian), are short on patience, the type who will get physically rough if they aren't paid.  To get the tough guys off his back, Ratner resorts to what amounts to a quasi-ponzi scheme.  He unwisely takes Garnett's championship ring to his favorite pawn shop.  In exchange for entrusting the ring with the pawnbroker, Ratner gets cash. Their deal is that Ratner has until the end of that week to buy back the ring.  Otherwise, it's the pawnbroker's.  As soon as that little factoid is revealed to us, we can guess where this is going to lead.

When Ratner gets the money, he has two options.  He can either repay some of his financial obligations, or use the money to place a bet with the hope of increasing his cash position.  For a man with a gambling addiction, the choice is obvious.  Not only does he make a huge wager, but he picks Garnett’s Celtics.  Maybe he believes, as does KG, that the basketball gods will bestow good fortune on the player with the Ethiopian rock.  As the two-plus hour movie goes on, Howard is faced with several more dilemmas, rarely making the right move.

In addition to the jeweler’s financial and gambling challenges, his love life is a mess.  His wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel), turns a deaf ear to his seemingly sincere plea for another chance.  Sandler has made a career playing the sad sack.  Here, he makes us hope Dinah will change her mind, but she is steadfast in her decision.  She's tired of his lifestyle, watching him fritter away their money for too long.  As soon as Passover is done, she is filing divorce papers. However, we can't feel too sorry for poor Howard.  He is having an affair with the comely Julia (Julia Fox), his store clerk who is twenty years his junior. This man has clearly outkicked his coverage.

Although the movie does not lack for intensity, or even excitement to some extent, I found it to be repetitive and overly long.  The film editors should have had one more go at it -- maybe more Fox and less Sandler?  No, I guess that proposal would not work, as Sandler's acting is a strength of the film.  One aspect in which the directors, brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, spend too much time is showing actual footage of the Celtics game on which Ratner has bet a small fortune.  Watching guys watching a pro basketball game on a small television screen does little to entertain me.  (Disclosure: I would rather watch professional bowling than pro basketball.)  I found the story to be jumbled.  I almost wrote "a jumbled mess," but drew back.  It's not quite a mess, so let's put it this way: The writers have crammed in too many chaotic events, twists and turns, several of which do not advance the story.

Two of the minor characters merit a quick comment.  I was surprised to find Menzel cast as the wife in this movie.  The famous singer from the Frozen animated films and award winning Broadway plays has a small, non-singing part in a movie that falls on the opposite end of the decorum spectrum.  Also, one of Arno's henchmen is Phil, played by Keith Williams Richards in his debut role.  The actor has a presence about him that reminds me of Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas.  I learned that Richards had never acted at any level, amateur or professional, before he was discovered by an assistant casting director, Michele Mansoor, while walking through a subway station in New York.

Finally, a caveat.  I recently watched The Irishman on Netflix.  Other than movies starring the late Dennis Hopper, I hadn't recalled a movie in which the effenheimer was used by more characters in such a variety of circumstances.  That "record" is threatened by Uncut Gems, in which blue dialogue flows naturally from the lips of the majority of its characters.