Talk about your long shots. Six months ago, if you'd told me one of my favorite movies of the year was going to be an Adam Sandler picture, I'd have probably scoffed - maybe even snorted. But then again, I'd never heard of the Safdie brothers.
Goes to show, you should never dismiss. Because I'm here to tell you, Uncut Gems is flat-out one of the best films of the year, and Adam Sandler's a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination (when I first saw the trailer, I thought it was John Turturro). I'm unfamiliar with the previous films directed by siblings Benny and Josh Safdie (Daddy Longlegs, Good Time), so I was completely unprepared for the level of craft and energy they bring to this story of a hustling New York City jeweler's relentless descent into high-stakes gambling and moral chaos.
It's fitting that Martin Scorsese is one of Uncut Gems' Executive Producers, as the film has so much of that same raw Mean Streets energy and street character. Sandler is Howard Ratner, a fast-talking diamond district proprietor who reflexively turns every interaction into a possibility to score, upping the ante of risk with each deal he makes. The film reminds me of the early-nineties films of Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant). In fact, while it's supposedly set in 2012 (characters have cell phones and iPads), the vibe, music, and look of the characters all scream late-eighties/early-nineties. The soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin is particularly retro synth-heavy, giving the movie a hectic, Vangelis-meets-Times Square flavor.
Uncut Gems is an unmedicated anxiety attack. It's the most stressful experience you're likely to ever have in a theater. Howard is easily one of the most annoying characters you're ever likely to meet, but he's the shark who believes that he'd die if he ever stopped moving forward, constantly propelling himself into the next ever-tightening situation.
The Safties - along with casting directors Francine Maisler and Jennifer Venditti - deserve a special award for casting. The faces in this film! There are so many amazing and eccentrically real-life faces peppered throughout, which gives the movie a completely convincing street level quality. People look odd and dress badly. It's one of the most New York of New York movies I've seen in ages. The cast includes basketball player Kevin Garnett (who plays himself), LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, Judd Hirsch, newcomer Keith Williams Richards, and the hypnotic Eric Bogosian, whose time-worn face projects incredible intensity and angst. Everyone is utterly fantastic and convincing.
Cinematographer Darius Khondji (Se7en, The Lost City of Z) does truly heroic work here, shooting between the drab glare of jewelry store florescents and a myriad of chaotic night environments. The camera - along with Howard - is in nearly constant motion, phenomenally edited by Ronald Bronstein along with Bennie Safdie. No other movie would dare plunge its camera deep into the inner molecular structure of a rare opal, and emerge in the midst of a colonoscopy.
If the film has a soul mate, it's Todd Phillips' Joker. Both films are remarkably well made, featuring protagonists inexorably sinking into fateful quicksand. They also both playfully evoke music and environmental details of eighties and nineties New York to an immersive and compelling degree, creating environments of nearly smothering moral decay.
The filmmaking craft on display here is absolutely top-shelf, and I can't wait to see what the Safdies have in store for us next. To sustain this escalating tone of anxiety and suspense for the entire running time is an incredible achievement, and I'll never look at Adam Sandler the same way again. Uncut Gems is a phenomenal film - but hard to take. When the lights come up, you're probably going to need some epinephrine - and a shower. Very highly recommended.
Goes to show, you should never dismiss. Because I'm here to tell you, Uncut Gems is flat-out one of the best films of the year, and Adam Sandler's a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination (when I first saw the trailer, I thought it was John Turturro). I'm unfamiliar with the previous films directed by siblings Benny and Josh Safdie (Daddy Longlegs, Good Time), so I was completely unprepared for the level of craft and energy they bring to this story of a hustling New York City jeweler's relentless descent into high-stakes gambling and moral chaos.
It's fitting that Martin Scorsese is one of Uncut Gems' Executive Producers, as the film has so much of that same raw Mean Streets energy and street character. Sandler is Howard Ratner, a fast-talking diamond district proprietor who reflexively turns every interaction into a possibility to score, upping the ante of risk with each deal he makes. The film reminds me of the early-nineties films of Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant). In fact, while it's supposedly set in 2012 (characters have cell phones and iPads), the vibe, music, and look of the characters all scream late-eighties/early-nineties. The soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin is particularly retro synth-heavy, giving the movie a hectic, Vangelis-meets-Times Square flavor.
Uncut Gems is an unmedicated anxiety attack. It's the most stressful experience you're likely to ever have in a theater. Howard is easily one of the most annoying characters you're ever likely to meet, but he's the shark who believes that he'd die if he ever stopped moving forward, constantly propelling himself into the next ever-tightening situation.
The Safties - along with casting directors Francine Maisler and Jennifer Venditti - deserve a special award for casting. The faces in this film! There are so many amazing and eccentrically real-life faces peppered throughout, which gives the movie a completely convincing street level quality. People look odd and dress badly. It's one of the most New York of New York movies I've seen in ages. The cast includes basketball player Kevin Garnett (who plays himself), LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, Judd Hirsch, newcomer Keith Williams Richards, and the hypnotic Eric Bogosian, whose time-worn face projects incredible intensity and angst. Everyone is utterly fantastic and convincing.
Cinematographer Darius Khondji (Se7en, The Lost City of Z) does truly heroic work here, shooting between the drab glare of jewelry store florescents and a myriad of chaotic night environments. The camera - along with Howard - is in nearly constant motion, phenomenally edited by Ronald Bronstein along with Bennie Safdie. No other movie would dare plunge its camera deep into the inner molecular structure of a rare opal, and emerge in the midst of a colonoscopy.
If the film has a soul mate, it's Todd Phillips' Joker. Both films are remarkably well made, featuring protagonists inexorably sinking into fateful quicksand. They also both playfully evoke music and environmental details of eighties and nineties New York to an immersive and compelling degree, creating environments of nearly smothering moral decay.
The filmmaking craft on display here is absolutely top-shelf, and I can't wait to see what the Safdies have in store for us next. To sustain this escalating tone of anxiety and suspense for the entire running time is an incredible achievement, and I'll never look at Adam Sandler the same way again. Uncut Gems is a phenomenal film - but hard to take. When the lights come up, you're probably going to need some epinephrine - and a shower. Very highly recommended.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment