A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Put any and all thoughts of Adam Sandlers comedy output out of your mind.  This is not Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison or Little Nicky.

Goofy Sandler is well and truly put on ice for this film by film making duo, The Safdie Brothers, who also wrote the film.

I am a Sandler fan through and through.  I love his classic comedies, I even appreciate the overly silly films and rom-coms that he’s become known for, but what a lot of people don’t realise, is that he’s actually quite a great dramatic actor.  See Punch Drunk Alice, Spanglish and the brilliant, Reign Over and for examples of his acting chops.

This one, while completely outside the box, is a thoroughly difficult and largely unsettling viewing experience.  It’s quite long, but that’s the least of what makes it difficult and uncomfortable.  It’s the entire journey of watching Sandlers Howard Ratner slip further into the hole that he’s digging for himself, plus the dialogue, which is quite strong, is really over shadowed by the delivery – I literally feel like everything is yelled.

Seriously, everybody is always yelling in this movie.  It’s hard to get past.

Sandler is deservedly getting rave reviews for his performance, and it is worth while viewing.

I won’t give anything away, but the ending left me shook.  It’s difficult, but required viewing.

8/10

As a bonus, I also checked out the Sandler/Safdie Brothers short film collaboration, Goldman Vs Silverman.  If Uncut Gems was the meal, this is the desert.  Very interesting and unique.

Check out the full short film here;

Rick Trewin.