Uncut Gems (2019) is a dark sports movie with no sports

Directed by Benny Safdie (Heaven Knows Boy) and Josh Safdie (Good Boy)

Written by Ronald Bronstein (Frownboy), Josh Safdie, and Benny Safdie

Starring Adam Sandler (Waterboy), Keith Williams Richards (Three Boys), Julia Fox (Great American Boy Wrestle), and LaKeith Stanfield (Knives Boy)

Uncut Gems uses the ups and downs of a sports to tell the story of a criminal asshole.

We need to see the scumbags of the world. Kinda like in horror, there's something about seeing unredeemable jerks in stories, either becoming that way like in Breaking Bad or just living their lives like in Uncut Gems. Something about the way Adam Sandler's new film taps into the street-level sports movie esthetic while we watch Howard struggle to win big at gambling succeeds at the same time making it a movie I will probably never watch again.

     Howard is the kind of guy that says he will pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. A jeweler with a way with people, he caters to high end clients while betting high on basketball. Our story starts when his bookie finds out Howard's been making bets with money owed. At the same time, he's struggling with his mistress and his wife as well as the sale of a black opal he thinks will make him rich for life. Everything does not end happily, especially when basketball star Kevin Garnett takes the black opal to bring him luck.

     The movie has a certain kinetic attitude to it. Always on the move, always shot from interesting angles, the directors are doing some interesting stuff with the camera. By pure need of story, the whole of New York looks a little dirty, a little like the place you don't really want to be. It's a tone that hits and sticks with you throughout.

     As we saw in Punch Drunk Love, when Adam Sandler is not on a vacation making a movie he's a damn good actor. He blends well into the scuzzy world this story requires. One could see how this man operates one moment at a time. Just a real good portrayal of a guy struggling to make do by bad means.

      On a whole, I don't have a lot to say about this movie. It's good, well past the benchmark for interesting and into "film" kinda flicks. That being said, it's pretty dirty and grimy. Watching Uncut Gems does not feel good, does not feel like a world you want to return to. It's a car crash of a movie, fascinating to behold but you are left thanking whatever power you believe in that you don't have to go through it again.

Here are my notes, beware spoilers

Diamond Mine?

I think I get… No, I don't get this opening of the men finding the opal in the mine. Sure, he tells the story later on about Jews mining in Ethiopia. Does this make other claims Howard has credible or does this just show that the thing came from the earth? I dunno,  just felt out of step after the movie got going.

Cameo Kevin Garnet - nope character

Legit thought that Kevin Garnet was just a one and done cameo. Then he takes the opal. Huh, did not expect that.

Text closet

Howard's a scumbag and there's not a lot to combat that once you see how he treats his mistress. Sure, we've all played the "texts are coming from inside the house" gag, but not many have gone full sexting.

Champagne sparks

Second movie I saw in a month that had champagne sparklers. First was Bad Boys for Life. Who made this a thing and why is it in my movies?

Selling things in safe

Howard says he'll keep your things for you if you bring him customers. He sells your shit. Don't trust Howard.

Door and no ring

Set up those Chekov's guns one after another.

Howie tattoo

Men and women alike: If you dump someone, and they get your name tattooed on them, run. That's a crazy bag of trouble.

Remembers the ring

Not gonna lie, when the ring was set up earlier I figured Howard would forget again. He didn't, though, which surprised me.

Out the window

Here's when I knew things would not end up well. Howard can't help himself. He gets the money to pay off the bookie, the opal has been sold (not for the seven figures he thought, but enough) and then there's just one more bet. A hail mary. In a more light-hearted movie, things might end up okay. This is not a light hearted movie.

Sports movie - illegal gambling

Right at this point, watching Howard and the gangsters he's been pissing off the whole movie watch a game, this is when I came up with the idea that this is a sports movie. Howard is our underdog. He's gone through a lot, suffered and been through trials, and succeeded in most things he's tried only to get knocked down. Now he's got this one last chance, one last game. And when he wins, whoo boy, it's pretty damn good.

Boom headshot end

Course, right after he wins he's so happy that he releases the gangsters he's been pissing off for days after taking the money they were owed and placing a bet. It's pretty forgivable when one of them hauls off and shoots not only Howard, but the gangster that gave Howard leniency. Does everyone get what they deserved? Hell, I don't know. But it's a logical progression of events and a damn fine story.