Josh and Benny Safdie's UNCUT GEMS starring Adam Sandler as a jewelry dealer with a gambling habit

this film is nuts

― 💠 (crüt), Saturday, December 28, 2019 12:33 AM (twenty-one hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

these guys really know how to convey stress, I’ll say that

― babu frik fan account (mh), Saturday, December 28, 2019 1:09 PM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes

the last scene of sandman & kg where hes conceiving the bet & trying to pump garnett up was maybe a fav of mine

― johnny crunch, Saturday, December 28, 2019 6:09 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

really yes

Those who’ve seen it: I met this man Ara (who plays in the film) at the craps table the night before shooting (i couldn’t fall asleep). I convinced him to be in the film — see the time stamp on my first text to him — and he was perfect. https://t.co/cJXeInzIB9 pic.twitter.com/kMuyEULyOK

— SAFDIE (@JOSH_BENNY) December 27, 2019

Loved the throwaway gag of the bookie haranguing a stoic line cook about how to make a Caesar salad

A hilarious moment. A real stretch to see Mike Francesca play a hollering blowhard who doesn’t know what he’s talking about - listen closely and you can hear him mispronounce croutons as “crow-tons”.

I am not totally sure how to articulate it but I am turning over in my mind how the end of the movie is “some goy fuckhead is enraged about being locked in a vestibule for four hours by a Jew”.

Adding Lakeith Stanfield to my “should be in every movie” list

wowowow this was something else. made me really regret not catching Good Time in the theater.

otm Lakeith Stanfield is so so good.

yeah, agreed

Howard never gets high, I don’t think he has a drink and he’s not drunk

His primary vice is chasing that adrenaline dragon. And the audience watching gets a contact high. I'd probably agree with the "dirtbag Altman" assessments if I remembered seeing any Altman other than M*A*S*H.

The costume and set designers must have had a blast going all-in on the blingiest that time and place had to offer.

the safdies are really cornering the market in movies about desperate men making a series of terrible choices huh

thought this was great, sandler is really genuinely fantastic

think overall i preferred good time tho - I was not prepared for its sweaty dirtbag nightmare energy and it hit me like a train and the slightly more refined version on display here didn’t quite hit the same high

and yeah lakeith stanfield is always a pleasure, and always different - love that guy

I don’t see how these guys have anything to do with Altman outside of them both making a movie about gambling addicts. Maybe overlapping dialogue? Still a stretch imo.

Altman's rhythms are less caffeinated.

Have you seen the new one? I don't think it applies to their previous three films. This one though, completely different story... their first movie shot anamorphic afaik, certainly the overlapping dialogue, the roving authorial eye of the camera, the keen observation, the incisive and remorseless analysis and critique of a particular American milieu, using a familiar and worn out genre as a frame to hang so much else on. as in Altman, there's a paradoxical feeling of glazing over a world AND being completely immersed in it.

I realized the thing their four films have in common: characters in extremely stressful time sensitive situations that they created that will likely kill them and/or their loved ones (even Daddy Longlegs - those sleeping pills!)

xp

I think the reason this was extra stressful at times to me was it triggering my old gambling addiction memories.

Now, mine was minor, and way less stakes than what he was betting, but man does watching a sporting event feel like life and death when you put an assload of money on it

I dabble in small gambling - just between friends and family, usually just on elections and Oscar winners - and yeah this movie really does convey a gambler's high. not only conveys it but transfers it so masterfully to the audience. I find the ending so beautiful, the gambler's fantasy. I completely agree with Ryan above, he's not a tragic figure at all.

Oh Howard is the ultimate dumpster fire of a human being.

Yet he still got someone to tattoo his name on her butt

Yeah I thought this was very good at conveying the idea that the real high from gambling (or from addicted, unhealthy gambling) doesn’t come from winning, its from feeling like you’re probably about to win. Winning is a disappointment, because it’s an ending.

Aside from the overtalking, I don’t think I really see the Altman comparisons at all tbh. I guess they’re both interested in getting at a certain kind of naturalism, but seem to take exact opposite routes to get there imo

exact opposite? in what way? tons of similarities between this movie's cinematography and CA Split, Nashville, even Prairie Home Companion. constantly roving, pushing in and out, scanning. and at least in Uncut Gems, there's certainly a similarity in sensibility, hiding wry social commentary behind a typical [insert genre]. it's a happy ending for Howard, but it's calamitous for almost everyone else. I think it's a brilliant critique of capitalism, moreso than the great but very obvious Parasite, because it intoxicates us along with Howard, and his sudden violent death hits us that much harder. I mean this movie has a physical effect on people, and it can be read in so many ways, like Altman's films. more similarities: perfect specific casting, loose ends hanging everywhere, a study of the death and decomposition of the American Dream.

Howard being a horrible person ("dumpster fire"?) doesn't make him a tragic figure, he's living his best life in this movie, and dies at the pinnacle of his experience. of course we never see the inevitable fallout and collateral damage from his run, the movie ends when he ends. he looks so happy there lying on the floor.

I think Altman is a super interesting and productive point of comparison with the Safdies, but I dunno, the similarities seem superficial to me. Both are immersive, but to me Altman movies seem more about inviting the viewer into a shared environment, getting the audience to observe things they might not have noticed otherwise. Whereas Gems & Good Time are more about trapping the viewer, forcing us to exist with things theyd rather turn away from. The stories in Altman feel more open to me, whereas Safdie movies are as locked off as Greek tragedy: as soon as we meet Howard in Gems and Connie in Good Time, we immediately know their fate & the only thing in question is how much collateral damage they leave behind. The resolution (such as it is) in California Split for example seems far less preordained, and far less final, than it would be if the Safdies made that film.

That's a great point. Unlike Altman, all four of their films follow one person. And I agree about the certainty of outcomes - I'm hard pressed to think of a major Altman movie that moves in such a clear way - and certainly the Safdies create a sense of tunnel vision whereas Altman is panoramic. But the crucial quality that defines Altman, and I agree about this - "inviting the viewer into a shared environment, getting the audience to observe things they might not have noticed otherwise" - is definitely present in Uncut Gems. that might just be a product of superb casting and mis en scene, because Altman is also about nailing a milieu. but so is Michael Mann, at least in his major work - maybe a better comparison is Heat. I thought about Heat a lot during Uncut Gems, there's a similar attention to detail and characterization. and obviously all the anamorphic nighttime city cinematography.

uncut gems is good tho, unlike heat

savage

i calls ‘em like i sees them

Interview with the guy who plays the heavy - his first acting job.

https://uproxx.com/movies/uncut-gems-scary-guy-interview-keith-williams-richards/

that guy is a fucking dead ringer for my old landlord

he was genuinely scary, i was wondering where they found him

the safdies really found some wild characters to put in this movie

Did anybody else read Arno as small-time and in over his head?

He appeared horrified when the Suge Knighted Howard out the window and seemed to be trying to stop them.

And i also assumed, as a brother-in-law, he felt he couldn't kill him as it would follow him everywhere he went, so he was hoping to torture Howard into paying, only to have Howard shrug it off to where...what other choice would he have? His hired thugs are legit gangsters and he finds that out the hard way.

Also did anybody get a Howie butt tattoo after seeing this

"The Stranger" was an A+ musical cue.

Someone said it’s more like Sorcerer than Altman, and that makes sense.

xpost otm. very on point.

Liked this, but it also kind of felt like being yelled at for two hours. My wife was scanning the Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews. It's around 50%, with essentially half the reviews five stars and half one. I look forward to reading some real reviews, though liked the New Yorker profile.

Also did anybody get a Howie butt tattoo after seeing this

Apparently, yes.

my theater was well populated and there was some nervous laughter like...this is sandler so this is supposed to be funny, right?

It made my wife pretty uncomfortable.

I like it when movies feature a host of good/memorable performances by non-professional actors 'cause it makes clear (before everyone forgets again) that effective acting is largely a function of direction and casting

I have said before that acting for the screen isn't really acting, so yeah

If you quizzed a casual moviegoer, there's no way in hell they'd correctly guess which members of the supporting cast were experienced actors.

Tbh until I read that interview I felt sure i’d seen bogosian’s goon in other stuff

same!

Didn't live up to the hype but came pretty fucking close.

Yeah, will agree with this. Kinda odd. Everyone kept saying what you’re all saying here, absolute tension madness, etc. but I wasn’t...consciously feeling it? Yet as soon as it was over I did realize my pulse rate was crazy jacked up so it was almost like I physically felt it more than actively thought about said tension, which was interesting. Like being vaguely spoiled on that front (but not on anything else, certainly not the ending). I did enjoy it well enough but a bit of a bro morality tale, though I like the fact that as noted he dies at his absolute happiest. That said all the acting was great across the board. Even Francesa! Fox'll get attention but I liked Menzel and Hirsch even more. (Stanfield, of course; Garnett did a great job!) Surprising choppy element: Lopatin’s score. I take the point that it's reflective of internal frazzled fractures but it didn't always land? Maybe that was more sound editing than the score itself.

a bit of a bro morality tale

wut

Surprising choppy element: Lopatin’s score. I take the point that it's reflective of internal frazzled fractures but it didn't always land?

I appreciated the score more on second viewing, a gleaming reflection of Howie's total non-registering of anything about his worldview or behavior being off, keeping that sustain pedal on even after it's all over.

wut

Well, maybe poorly phrased, but it felt like a 'wages of sin are death' tale in the end. Totally legit subject, and the whole idea about how you balance out attraction and repulsion to a character like Howard is part of the point, but I dunno, it was like I was watching the whole time going "This guy represents a general mindset that drives me fucking nuts so I'm not THAT invested."

Will definitely say that this is a movie that does that rare thing of accurately capturing what the hell it sounds like at a live music show -- muffled echo and you scream your conversations with others.

It felt like Run Lola Run but with less running.

Having spent some time with both the soundtracks to this and Good Time, I'd say Uncut Gems is more stylistically all over the place, while Good Time feels more of a piece, so I can see how it might feel choppy. Weirdly, I found myself paying much less attention to the soundtrack watching Uncut Gems than with Good Time, which felt more blaring and intrusive to me.

Uncut Gems works a bit better for me as a film overall. Good Time had really cool visuals, crazy situations, and intense music, but it's pretty thin in terms of plot and characterization, and honestly doesn't make tons of sense. Uncut Gems was much more fleshed out and fully realized, the characters had identifiable personalities and arcs that were weirdly relatable. Howard was not at all rational, but I got why he was doing what he was doing, and his world felt very real. I also liked how ambiguous Julia was in terms of where she stood with him.

I don't think calling it a simple morality play is quite fair. Had Howie simply stuck to the banal everyday evil that is the colonialist plunder of his actual job, he'd have been perfectly fine. (I think this is why I love the late scene with KG, where he's able to seduce him out of anger at his exploitation.)

I will say I appreciate that we get zero sense -- none, whatsoever -- of who is he and where he comes from beyond the patently obvious. We get his wife's family in overload (excellently), absolutely nothing about what family he himself might have, much less extended family.

wages of sin are shown on screen is Gaspar Noe’s shtick of recent small theaters imo

everyone in this movie is a bit of a sinner but overall it’s about one man’s inability to just stop the one thing completely fucking his life. it’s frantic but overall, outside of whether basketball goes well, no one is in danger but Howard. the stakes aren’t necessarily small, but in the grand scheme of things only one person is subject to being ruined, bodily harm, etc. unless the bookies are going to go after his family — and that’s never seriously put on the table

it’s one addicted shmuck running a rolling grift