A24 has produced some of the weirdest films but also made a lot of great ones. Many call them hidden gems, which is ironic because this movie is one of them.
Uncut Gems delivered incredible performances, from the storyline and plot structure to the acting.
Plot Overview
The movie follows Howard Ratner, a gambling addict who runs a jewelry store in the heart of New York City. Due to his bad habits, he incurred a lot of debt. One of which is a strict loan shark brother-in-law, whom he has to pay $100,000. He also struggles with his relationship with his wife, Dinah, who wants a divorce, and his girlfriend, Julia, who works at his store.
Howard's life was pretty much the same daily, but when his associate Demany brought in NBA superstar Kevin Garnett and the black opal he smuggled overseas. Garnett gets interested and demands to hold onto the opal because he thinks it brings good luck for his next game. He used his 2008 NBA Championship ring as a bargain for the lucky gem.
Kevin Garnett leaves, and Howard places the ring on a bet that the basketball player will perform well in his games which he does. However, the next day, Demany mentions that Garnett still has the opal. Things get harder for Howard when his loan shark brother begins to demand the collection of his debts. Howard makes a hard choice to get the black opal back from Garnett and meet the demands of his brother-in-law.
Uncut Gems deliver outstanding performances from Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel, and Kevin Garnett as himself.
Review
Uncut Gems is a fascinating film about one's obsession with money. The true strength of this film is not in character development but in its exquisite plot structure. Howard is a hateful character who repeatedly falls into the same mistake. Every character in this movie has their own flaws, even the renowned NBA superstar.
This may have been Adam Sandler's best performance since God knows when. I can't remember him performing this good acting in a while, and I think he's phenomenal in this movie. The side characters also did an excellent job in their roles. I have watched Kevin Garnett in some of his NBA games, but his acting here is on-point.
Uncut Gems is one of those hidden gems (no pun intended) that A24 has offered. It's a must-watch and tackles one's problems with greed. It will not just slap you with hard-hitting scenes but also beat you down