Review of Uncut Gems (2019) by Donelson — 03 Feb 2020

Well. Such high praise from so many people I know and respect. And the production, directing and acting were quite incredible.

However, I found the script to be claustrophobic and unthinking, perhaps what the producers wanted. I found Sandler's character to be so intensely unlikeable, it was hard to see the movie as a whole. Yes, I was aware the entire movie how well-produced it was, how committed the actors were, especially Sandler. How difficult the cross dialogue and action was. It's a major achievement in those respects.

And, sadly, there were places in the movie that I was just plain bored. I even began to look at my iPhone messages, etc. Not good.

Sandler pulled off quite an incredible and difficult performance, Oscar-worthy, but yesterday I saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, and in spite of disliking Tom Hanks for many years, I was astonished by the nuances of his performance, so I will be rooting for him as best actor, rather than Sandler. Sorry, Adam.