Verdict: Root Canal Without Anesthesia 1 Uncut Gems 0. Not since The Disaster Artist have the critics been so wrong about a movie and the main actor. Two hours and fifteen minutes of screaming and cussing is not Best Actor material. Of course, that assumes there was material, no script here. I am sure they were just making it up as they went along. Couple that with a herky-jerky, hand-held cameras and miserable characters, and you get one wretched film. About halfway through, we see Adam Sandler carry out the garbage to the curb. Boy, did I wish I could join the garbage. It is that bad! I give Uncut Gems 0 Gavels and it receives a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating with a much less kind 66% Audience score.
Plot
Howard Ratner never saw a buck that he didn’t want to bet. Eventually, his addiction leads to sharks and their “collectors.” Lying to family, friends, and creditors is just part of the game. Eventually, the house of cards must fall? Betting someone else’s money is never a good idea.
Actors
Adam Sandler leaves the comfort of comedy to take on the role of an addict whose world is crumbling around him. This is not his finest hour despite what the critics try to foist on you. There is a reason Kevin Garnett (as himself) and Idina Menzel (as Ratner’s wife) are not the faces of major motion pictures. Acting is not their game. Still, they may be the best of the lot which isn’t saying much.
Final Thoughts
Critics use the following to describe Uncut Gems:
- Anxiety-inducing cinema
- Grimy
- The characters never get anywhere
- A rogues’ gallery of unpleasant characters
- Viewers may be wise to bring a case of Tums to chew on
And those are the ones who like it!
If you like movies watching an addict dig his/her grave deeper and deeper then this may be the flick for you. I recommend you bring a glow-in-the dark watch as I guarantee you will look at it no later than 60 minutes in. Uncut Gems is one of those movies that you watch to the end only because it just has to get better. It doesn’t! Although it makes no sense in the movie, we see Ratner getting a colonoscopy. He had more fun than you will at this mess.
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