Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. The film stars Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American jeweler and gambling addict in New York City's Diamond District, who must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased to pay off his debts. The film also stars Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian.

Uncut Gems had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019. It entered into a limited release in the United States on December 13, 2019, before a wide release on December 25, by A24. The film received critical acclaim, particularly for Sandler's performance, which several critics described as the best of his career. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2019, with Sandler also winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

Plot
In New York City's chaotic and corrupt diamond market, the gemstone dealer and gambling addict, Howard Ratner, is owing money to almost everyone, including his brother-in-law, Arno. A serial adulterer, incorrigible gambler, and all-around con artist, Howard thinks he can finally get out of the tight spot when he gets his hands on a block of rare Ethiopian black opal--the means to clear his ever-rising debts. But, the star Boston Celtics player, Kevin Garnett, has already taken a shine to the precious uncut gem. Can Ratner juggle his family, a pair of thuggish collectors, his work, and his master plan before things get nasty?

Why It's a Gem

 * 1) The Safdie brothers did an spectacular job directing the film.
 * 2) Masterful and phenomenally stellar acting, especially from Adam Sandler, and does a marvelous job at keeping the increasingly extreme suspense and tension in the film at an astonishingly even beat.
 * 3) Great supporting cast including Idina Menzel (the voice of Elsa in Frozen), Julia Fox, Judd Hirsch and even Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, also known as the popular singer The Weeknd!
 * 4) Howard Ratner is a good protagonist since he manages to be a complex, competent psychological character in the form of a charismatic, impulsive jewelry store owner with an overwhelming gambling addiction who's a horrible person that cheats the Ethiopian miners out of thousands, cheats on his wife, and is completely selfish and estranged from his family, yet manages to be likable by being very affable and trying to risk everything to survive while facing the consequences of his actions, and Adam Sandler plays him perfectly (as said before).
 * 5) Memorable quotes and great dialogue.
 * 6) Incredible character development.
 * 7) Interesting characters.
 * 8) Brilliant and chilling cinematography, which manages to portray the film's foreboding and extremely tense atmosphere very effectively.
 * 9) Terrifying and atmospheric soundtrack composed by Daniel Lopatin.
 * 10) Lots of extremely suspenseful moments, like the the nightclub scene and the basketball game at the end.
 * 11) *There's even a scene that only involves a door, a door! And yet still, it manages to be so stressful and tense and will keep you at the edge of your seat.
 * 12) Like The Irishman and Parasite, the film manages to efficiently balance drama, black comedy, mystery, suspense, tragedy and emotion.
 * 13) It's the first ever theatrically released live action Adam Sandler movie since Pixels, and is a good return to form for him.
 * 14) It does a very good job at handling its themes of gambling, debt, loan sharking, addiction, cheating, lying, scamming, etc.
 * 15) Very unexpected and powerful ending.
 * 16) Gorgeous visuals.
 * 17) These quotes:
 * 18) *Holy Shit, I'm gonna cum.
 * 19) *That's history right there, you understand?
 * 20) *I disagree.
 * 21) *This is me, This is how I win.
 * 22) Like The Wolf of Wall Street, there's non-stop extreme profanity throughout the entire film (including having a total of 560 uses of "fuck") which serves to enhance its themes, is executed exceptionally well and is a part of the constant tension throughout the movie.
 * 23) It's good to see that Adam Sandler has been returned into the film industry, after having spent years making the worst films for Happy Madison. He even managed to win the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor and Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
 * 24) *And his speech on the latter was amazing. We invite you to see it.

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) Despite what's mentioned above, the ending can also be very confusing. How will Howard's family react to his untimely death and do Phil and Nico ever get caught? All of this is how the film ended on a cliffhanger.

Reception
The film has been met with widespread critical acclaim, especially for Sandler's performance, with critics deeming it the best of his career. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 329 reviews, with an average rating of 8.38/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Uncut Gems reaffirms the Safdies as masters of anxiety-inducing cinema—and proves Adam Sandler remains a formidable dramatic actor when given the right material." Meanwhile, Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 91 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". It also has a 7.4/10 rating on IMDb.

Videos
1QjqHRWLWWM cEkTPl7vxFY 2AbBd_P2rdY