283.
Uncut Gem
8/10
Adam Sandler movies are definitely a guilty pleasure for me over the years but over the years, the quality has become unbearable and maybe even embarrassing. My favourite Sandler movie isn't actually a comedy and knowing that this going to be more towards the crime and dark comedy genre, I think I'll enjoy it. After hearing some good things and ready articles on how Sandler maybe should have won awards for his lead role, surely that can only build confidence. I guess it is time to find out whether this is a diamond in the rough.
Adam Sandler is playing a character called Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American jeweller who also has a massive gambling addiction. Being knee-deep in debt, Howard has bought a very rare gem to auction off and pay to get his life back to normal. The movie begins with giving some background on where the gem comes from in Ethiopia and two years later, we meet Howard, who is in debt with his loan shark brother-in-law.
He is still married but is soon to be divorced so that he can officially be with his new girlfriend who is also one of his employees. This movie quickly tracks Howard's life as it falls apart. The guy cannot catch a break and as a viewer, I felt the frustration every step of the way. Howard has a business associate that brings in celebrities to buy jewellery and this time we have an NBA star in Kevin Garnett. He sees this Ethiopian Opal and he instantly falls in love with it. He wants to hold onto it for good luck in his game that night and Howard reluctantly agrees. Right after, he heads to place a large bet on Garnett that night with a return of $600k. His main problem is that he has put in Garnett ring that he left with him in trade for the Opal loan, for a loan of his own. Now once the bet is placed, we saw the loan shark's goons keeping an eye on Howard. That night, Howard head's to his daughter's school play but notices he is being followed. He is in a better mood as the Garnett bet came in for him. After heading outside, he is caught and taken to a car to face his brother-in-law. It's revealed that the goons stopped the bet due to Howard using money that is owed elsewhere. The night ends with him being stripped and put into the trunk of his car.
Howard is now on a journey of getting the Opal back from the NBA player but he is harder to get hold of than a beer during the lockdown. Finally heading to a party hosted by The Weeknd, we see Howard meeting the gent that brings sports stars to his shop but all is not well and they have a falling out as Garnett still has the Opal. Howard's girlfriend Julia is also there with The Weeknd, sharing drugs and Howard's anger boils over whilst he fights with the singer and asks Julia to move out.
Garnett finally shows up at the store and offers to buy the Opal for much lower than Howard believes it is worth. He downright refuses and tells Garnett to head to the auction if he wants the chance to buy it. Now Howard must head to a Passover dinner with his family, his estranged wife, loan shark brother-in-law and everyone else that comes with it. Once he then heads to the auction he finds out that it has been appraised at a much lower value than he believed. He begs his father-in-law to bid and drive the price but it backfires as Garnett doesn't want to go as high as Howard thought he would and the Opal remains in the family, to the anger of the rest of them. Howard is set upon by the loan shark and his goons and is beaten to a pulp until heading back to his office. Julia and Howard reconcile as she sees how damaged this is making him from the moment of elation when he got the Opal to the desperation he is hitting now.
After learning that Garnett is still willing to buy the Opal, Howard agrees to sell with another master plan. The loan shark turns up to be paid with the money that Howard just made but he planned to send Julia and the money to a casino to bet big on Garnett. He leaves the thugs locked in the security door. Howard turns the basketball match on whilst the others are locked between those doors, sweating it out. The whole bet comes in and everyone is in disbelief as Howard wins $1.2 million. The brother-in-law Arno is the first to be asked to be released and we think there is going to be reconciliation but no one is more shocked than I am when one of the thugs shoots him between the eyes, killing him. Arno protests but also find a bullet and the two thugs loot the store whilst Julia is unaware as she collects the winnings.
I am still reeling from that ending. I have just followed a guy totally down on his luck for the past 2 hours and 10 minutes and then the last 5 minutes blew my mind with the ending. Just as Howard acting with elation, I felt the same joy as the bet comes in and then looked on in shock as a bullet passed through his head. Howard was a guy who really wasn't meant to get a win in life, that's for sure. The ending is the reason that I have recommended the movie to a few mates. You could watch a million movies of this genre and you will get the same result, a happy ending after 2 hours. This doesn't take the conventional route and I am more than happy with that. The shock value means fresh and that's hard to come across these days.
In recent times, this has, without doubt, been one of Adam Sandler's strongest outings. From the start, Sandler's character seemed to mirror Les Gold from the TV show Hardcore Pawn. This just proves that he is actually a very talented guy when the times comes. Just like Reign Over Me, which is my favourite Sandler movie, the comedy is not what you watch this movie for. It is the portrayal of a serious character that Sandler has in the locker. He knocked it out of the park. The supporting cast was a mixture of familiar faces as Idina Menzel plays Howard's wife rather than a Frozen princess and there was a face from The Dark Knight Rises and another from Independence day that I wouldn't know by name but when you think of the Sandler movies, you get the same slapstick comedy actors featuring in all of his classics. This put a stop to that. Even the breakout of Julia De Fiore as Julia, Howard's girlfriend, was a successful role.
This movie is a hectic ride into one guy's desperation for success and I'm all for recommending this movie. Although the run time could be something that many baulk at, it didn't feel as long as it could have. You feel trapped in this guys mind as he spirals down, looking for his next fix but never giving up hope that he will be able to make things right for himself and his family. The ending to this is still something I smirk about as it took me by absolute surprise. If you don't want the spoiler, I apologise if you didn't skip to the end.
