Review of Uncut Gems (2019) by Rebecca31 — 13 Jan 2020

Hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen because I’m about to give an Adam Sandler film a positive review. I don’t believe this has ever happened before and it may never happen again but here it is, an historic moment indeed. If you haven’t heard of Uncut Gems until now, where have you been hiding? It’s an exhilarating thrill ride you won’t want to miss.

The Safdie brothers are two wonderful directors and writers who know what it takes to make a great crime movie. Uncut Gems is perhaps the most stress inducing film you’ll see in years with a role so clearly written for Adam Sandler and he’s absolutely perfect for the part. A charismatic New York City jeweler, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) with a serious gambling addiction is in the process of making a series of incredibly high-stakes bets that could lead to the win of a lifetime. Uncut Gems took a little while to win me over, it starts frantically with so many characters all talking over each other, I was struggling to hear anything that was happening. Yet, once the set up is out of the way and the plot gets going it just doesn’t stop. Good Time is one of those crime movies where one thing going horribly wrong and is quickly following by a whole stream of equally horrible events where absolutely everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Uncut Gems follows a similar formula only it’s even more frantic and will send your stress levels soaring. Sandler’s character is so infuriating and unlikable and to see him get himself into constant situations with everything becoming worse and worse is insanely frustrating. Immersive cinema at its best, it grips you and doesn’t let go until it’s over. A tense comedy crime thriller you can see in cinemas on limited release or for all you Netflix addicts it’s out at the end of the month. Recommended.