Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a New York City jeweler with a gambling problem and a mouth that keeps writing checks his life can't cash. Set in 2012, the film follows Howard as he tries to flip a rare Ethiopian opal into a fortune, juggling loan sharks, a basketball star, and his own family in the process. Josh Safdie directs with Benny Safdie producing, working from a script they wrote with Ronald Bronstein. The cast includes LaKeith Stanfield as Howard's right-hand man Demany, Julia Fox as his girlfriend Julia, Idina Menzel as his estranged wife Dinah, Eric Bogosian as loan shark Arno, and NBA star Kevin Garnett playing a version of himself. Made for $19 million and released by A24 in December 2019, the film pulled in just over $50 million worldwide. That's a solid return for an R-rated crime drama with a lot of shouting. Critics responded well, with a 7.2 rating on IMDb across thousands of votes. The Safdies build tension through overlapping dialogue, constant motion, and Daniel Lopatin's synth score, which sounds like a panic attack set to music. Darius Khondji's cinematography keeps the camera close, trapping you in Howard's sweaty, chaotic orbit. It's a dark comedy and a thriller at once, less about the crime than about the compulsion driving it.[edit]