Mark Reviews Movies: UNCUT GEMS

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 12, 2019

Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is juggling a lot of things, because Howard has a single, all-encompassing problem. Nothing is good enough for him. There's always some big win on the horizon, and he's certain that one of those gambles is going to pay off. It has to. He keeps losing and losing, and with enough time and enough gambles, the odds eventually have to even out for him.

Uncut Gems follows Howard over the course of a long weekend, when the consequences of all of his bets and schemes and hustles and lies come at him at once. The man is obnoxious and self-destructive, and the film, written by Ronald Bronstein and fraternal directors Benny and Josh Safdie, makes no apologies for him. The closest it comes to offering any sympathy for Howard is in its constant assertions, based solely on the character's behavior, that the man is an addict.

There are a few moments in which things seem to be going well for Howard, if only for brief period, and the look of pure, nearly orgasmic bliss on his face tells us everything we need to know about him. He spends the entire story chasing that feeling—that he matters, that his self-imposed problems will finally dissipate, that all of the hard work and pain might finally pay off, that he has won.

Most of the film, though, isn't about the joy of a big gamble hitting. That doesn't happen for a guy like Howard, who has his fingers in so many pies that he probably needs to take off his shoes and socks—just to have a few more digits available for the new pies in his life.

He's in debt to too many people to remember. The big debt belongs to Arno (Eric Bogosian), who has a pair of heavies confronting and following Howard as much as possible. They get rough with the guy, but Arno, whose eyes twinkle a bit whenever he lets himself believe that Howard might hit it big with one his plans, keeps them on a leash—for a reason that ultimately shows just how desperate and insensible Howard actually is.

The money he does make, from selling his friend Demany's (LaKeith Stanfield) phony watches and pawning a championship ring on loan to him from professional basketball player Kevin Garnett (playing himself), doesn't go to paying off his creditors. He puts that cash on elaborate bets—namely on the player whose ring is currently funding the wager.

The only reason the famous athlete lets Howard have the ring involves a rare black opal, which Howard has purchased from exploited miners in Ethiopia. Howard assumes the gem could nab him at least a million dollars at auction, and when the basketball player points out the inconsistency of what he paid those miners for it, Howard can't comprehend the concept. After all, his mind is too busy working out another, last-ditch scheme.

Meanwhile, Howard's marriage is about to end, although he keeps stalling—telling his wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) that they can tell the kids after Passover (where, in a cheeky gag, he lists off the plagues), although maybe it might be better to wait a few months after that. The whole film, really, is about Howard delaying the inevitable.

Additionally, he neglects his children, who are of an age that they're going figure out—if they haven't already—that his absence is probably for the best in the long run. He also treats his loving mistress Julia (Julia Fox, in an auspicious debut performance) like garbage. He does so despite—or maybe even because of—the fact that Julia seems to be only person who believes in him. Fox's performance begins as a caricature, but by the end, she has turned Julia into a full character—one whom Howard definitely doesn't deserve.

We don't have sympathy for Howard, and at no point do the filmmakers even attempt to turn him into a sympathetic figure. In fact, they set up some things, such as an introductory colonoscopy and the discovery of a polyp, only to cancel them. A disease would be too easy of an out for Howard, and Bronstein and the Safdies clearly are of the mind that he doesn't deserve one.

What, then, is the appeal of this story, focused so intently and with such unwavering judgement on this unsympathetic man? Part of the allure is that it's refreshing to see filmmakers telling it like it is with their protagonist—showing him at his worst, not providing him with any outs, never trying to weigh a single positive against the overwhelmingly negative bulk of his character. There's something daring in that, and in the way the film shows how Howard's path toward self-destruction has affected others (the state of his family, the treatment of Julia, and, in a harrowing scene, the way he encourages a family member to risk almost $200,000 at an auction), there's even a bit of morality to this amoral tale.

From a far less righteous perspective, though, there is something inescapably enthralling in seeing this man go for it with such wild abandon. The film is propulsive, moving from one scheme to the next, and often anxiety-inducing in the knowledge that Howard, no matter how hard he tries, is going to keep being a loser in his dealings. That is his life's compulsion. We don't sympathize with him, but we can, at least, comprehend that drive.

Sandler's performance here is easily one of the actor's best—if not his best flat-out. For one thing, it's exceptional character work, always attuned to Howard's desperation and, in the few quieter moments, showing the insecurity that's at the heart of his questionable quest to become a winner. On a more fundamental level, though, the Safdies seem keenly aware that Sandler's screen persona, always stewing with some deeper rage, isn't an inherently sympathetic one. The casting is perfect for this particular character, but even so, Sandler goes above and beyond in his portrayal of this perennial loser-by-choice.

We don't have to like the guy. We just have to understand Howard, and Uncut Gems, with its unceasing momentum and its superficially thrilling but genuinely terrifying depiction of addiction, really makes us understand him.

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