Uncut Gems Robs Peter To Pay Paul and We're All In

Just a few moments in to Uncut Gems and the Safdie Brothers let us know that Adam Sandler's gambling addicted Howard is going to be pulling a lot of miracles out of his ass. But don't let the frenetic pace established by co-writers and editors Benny Safdie and Ronald Bronstein hypnotize you into a stupor. There's something fishy going on underneath the surface of this film and we're going to be dusting off some old school narratives in order to catch the full spectrum of this raw cinema experience. Howard Ratner deals in jewelry in the New York City Diamond District and to say he has a gambling problem would be like describing Ray Allen as a pedestrian free throw shooter. Not only does he excel at placing wagers he has perfected the art of proverbially putting everything on the line. This of course makes him the perfect Safdie character in that he reaps the chaos he sews and Adam Sandler's quick talking "crazy-ass Jew" has the audience simultaneously rooting for and cringing at how many side cons and skin of his teeth brushes with death he manages to escape in the course of two hours and fifteen minutes. Here Sandler's performance is actually restrained and nuanced. Where audiences expect something between Barry Egan and Happy Gilmore they get the most fleshed out performance of his career; garnering well-earned talk of awards nominations. Howard is both detestable and lovable: equal parts lovable loser and hardened fast talker. I believed him to be as real as the rock that gets chipped away from an unfinished jewel. As the pressure builds around him we get to see all the inclusions of his flaws.

This is something brothers Benny and Josh Safdie along with co conspirator Ronald Bronstein have been perfecting for the last decade with their unique brand of guerrilla filmmaking. Throw a visibly broken character into a pressure cooker drama of their own making and watch their decisions in the moment produce the next crisis. 2017's Good Time played this sensibility out to perfection with its mix of Cassavetes-esque street shots speeding along like a psychedelic Bicycle Thieves meets Of Mice and Men. It's like if Sisyphus took Adderall before pushing his rock up the hill again. The existential narrative plays out fresh and new while the audience grapples with their overloaded senses.

And this is where I start to reconsider what the Safdie's are up to. I admire their respect for the audience's attention span. As Frank Capra once quipped, "There are no rules in filmmaking. Only Sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness." For me the only rule is the metaphor must serve the narrative. Story comes first and if you never see the metaphor then the story worked- no fancy pants symbols got in the way with actors nodding down to their bellybuttons for artful gazing. Here the Safdie's strike gold and they avoid the cinematic treasure trail that has turned so many promising upstarts into indie woulda' coulda' shoulda' beens. Here I'm giving full warning as you read this: SPOILERS AHEAD! I am not a reviewer. I deconstruct narrative and reconsider what may or may not be going on between the lines. Uncut Gems has multiple lines going on several parlays and I'm wagering that Howard is a golem. No, not Gollum like my precious and the ring of doom (although there's a connection, yeah). I mean he's an unfinished being before God's eyes. A lump of crudely shaped clay and raw material that has been animated by controlling forces. Howard's animus is his addiction and it controls his decision making throughout the film. He even hides in a closet at one point denoting the golem's origin story wherein Rabbi Judah Leow created his golem from clay to protect the citizen's of Prague. Howard has several distinct moments where he basically falls into a trance like state. He's mesmerized by risk and the endorphin rush of hitting a winning line. He cannot serve two masters though. His family and friends are all at risk from the collateral damage caused by his controller- his addiction to gambling. A golem does not truly love or feel real empathy. It obeys its master and it can never completely be human. Though Howard gets his chances.

Or does he? He definitely gets chances to pay his debts off. But that would only signify a sense of self preservation. Really, I am at a loss to come up with a moment he showed any real love toward his fellow characters. Even during Passover dinner he displays a knowledge of the recitation of the 10 plagues, dipping his finger in the wine and brushing it to signify the blood of the sacrificial lamb, but as I took this as a nod that he is the lamb that later is sacrificed his death is involuntary and only purified in the fact that he hit his last line on a 6 line parlay. His kids are chess pieces to reflect self adoration, his wife a fail safe when he thinks he's lost his mistress. He asks his wife to look into his eyes so she can see his true feelings and all she sees is stupidity. Golem is as golem does. I also noted the appearance of at least two crucifixes (I know I missed a third) and that the wearers are denied at some point in the film. This and the fact that fish play important roles in the narrative as well have me turning over the dynamic between him and his brother-in-law bookie Arno, played to perfection by Eric Bogosian (best stare in the business). Judd Hirsch's patriarch Gooey views Arno as an outsider who married in to the family and celebrates Christmas (not kosher). Arno's early denial of Howard's first bet on Kevin Garnett would have paid off the debt shared between the two brother-in-laws. It brings me back to the rock, the titular uncut gem (our McGuffin if you will... the thing that dreams are made of...) and how fish were used to smuggle it in to Howard. Jesus directs Peter to cast his line and the first fish he catches will have four coins or drachma to pay off both parties tax debts. At the school play Howard's daughter spews coins from her mouth and he gets thrown in a public fountain after failing to auction the black opal for a higher price.

Uncut Gems is one of the few films I've watched in recent years that I can remember rooting for the lead's success if only to avoid the sickening feeling growing in my stomach that he is going to destroy everyone around him. So that when he hits big I feel his rush. The Safdie's have done something real clever here. It's like gasping while watching Psycho as Marion Crane's car stops sinking into the swamp for just a moment. I mean, how and why did I start rooting for Norman Bates? We've been trapped in a bullet proof glass doorway and forced to root for the only guy who can set us free.