“Uncut Gems”
Movie Review
Josh and Benny Safdie, who also co-wrote the screenplay
with Ronald Bronstein, are the directors of the American crime thriller Uncut
Gems. It features LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, and Eric
Bogosian in addition to Adam Sandler. In the movie, Adam Sandler plays Jewish-American
jeweler Howard Ratner, a gambling addict who lives in New York City's Diamond
District, and he has to find a pricey gem he bought to pay off his debts. Original
music for the soundtrack was composed by Daniel Lopatin.
The film made its debut in December 2019. Uncut Gems
received many favorable reviews, especially for Sandler's performance, which
some reviewers called the best of his career. The film was chosen by the
National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of the year.
In 2010, Jewish Ethiopian miners from the Welo mine in
Ethiopia recover a rare black opal. In the Diamond District of New York City in
2012, gambling addict Howard Ratner owns and operates KMH, a diamond business.
Howard is having trouble paying off his gambling obligations, which include the
$100,000 he owes to his brother-in-law Arno, a loan shark. His wife Dinah, who
has consented to divorce him after Passover, and his lover Julia, a worker at
KMH, share his household duties.
Demany, a business partner of Howard's, brings Kevin
Garnett, a basketball star, to KMH. The opal that Howard had smuggled in shows
up while he is there. Garnett becomes fixated on it and insists on keeping it
for luck in his game that evening. Howard agrees begrudgingly but insists that
Garnett provide him with the 2008 NBA Championship ring as security.
Following Garnett's departure, Howard pawns the ring with
a six-way parlay on him performing remarkably well in the game that night,
which he does. The following day, Demany infuriates Garnett by revealing that
he still possesses the opal. Arno and his mafia handlers, Phil and Nico, ambush
Howard at his daughter's school play. His winning wager was supposed to net him
$600,000, but Arno stopped it because Howard owed him money. Howard is forced
to phone Dinah for assistance after being stripped naked by Phil and Nico and
locked in the trunk of his car.
To reclaim the opal, Howard meets Demany at a weekend
nightclub party sponsored by an R&B musician but finds out that Garnett
still has it. When Howard discovers Julia and the Weekend snorting cocaine in a
restroom, he confronts him because he thinks they were having sex. Howard
confronts Julia and asks her to leave his apartment because he feels misled.
Before the auction, Garnett offers to buy the opal back
from Howard for $175,000, but Howard declines since he thinks it is worth
considerably more. Howard claims that Garnett left his ring at his residence
when Garnett demanded it back. After Garnett departs in shock, Howard chastises
Demany for letting Garnett have the opal for such a long time. Demany, who is
furious, quits and destroys Howard's office. Following an unpleasant Passover
meal, Dinah refuses Howard's request to give their relationship another shot.
Howard learns right before the auction that the opal has
actually been valued at far less than his original estimate of $1 million. In
an effort to increase the price of the gem, he persuades his father-in-law
Gooey to place a bid, but the strategy fails when Garnett is unable to surpass
Gooey's final offer. Gooey hands the opal to Howard in a fit of rage before
Arno, Phil, and Nico attack him in front of the auction house. He returns to
KMH crying and covered in blood. He is consoled by Julia, and they make up.
When Howard finds that Garnett is still interested in
purchasing the opal, he gives him cash at KMH. Howard begs Julia to place money
on a three-way parlay on Garnett performing well even though he could pay off
his obligation to Arno. Just before Garnett leaves, Arno, Phil, and Nico arrive
at KMH, but Julia flees before they can enter Howard's office. While she takes
a chopper to the Mohegan Sun casino to place the wager, the goons track him
down and threaten him. Howard is instructed by Arno to call Julia and change
it, but he declines. The three try to follow her in rage, but Howard blocks
them between the security doors of the shop. He taunts the three while watching
the game on television by identifying their courtside mob accomplices while
they are still entrapped.
The Boston Celtics win the game, awarding Howard a $1.2
million paycheck. He releases the three thugs with joy, but an outraged Phil
shoots Howard in the face, quickly killing him. Phil shoots Arno dead as well
as he complains and tries to flee. Howard's earnings are taken by Julia while
Phil and Nico rob the shop.
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