Whenever I see Adam Sandler, I remember the random yet hilarious films he has been in.
We all know how Adam is. Growing up, my dad would have a nostalgic DVD set player with numerous film DVDs to watch. Remember having a DVD of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and watching it for the first time and having a great laugh. I have watched many other Adam Sandler films, but the point I have captured from the work Sandler has been from was that he was a funny guy. An actor/performer that you will assume would only be in comedy films.
Already know actors can be typecast for only being good in one specific genre. Adam Sandler was a comedic actor, so I could never imagine him in a more vital role. However, humbleness caught my attention because I was wrong. Remember during the summer of 2021 when I finished playing basketball with friends and, after getting comfortable, just wanted to watch a movie? Netflix had added new movies to the platform, but I saw a movie I found interesting because I saw Sandler in it, and it was an A24 film. From start to finish, Uncut Gems was phenomenal.
Sandler plays jewelry store owner yet is an obsessed gambler who stumbles upon a deal with NBA player Kevin Garnett to hold onto a high-priced opal during all the havoc that is happening upon him. Sandler plays a character named Howard whose world is honestly out of place—going through a divorce and having an affair with Julia Fox’s character, Julia.
Owing to the many people’s money involved in the process, you can say that the film automatically gives the audience anxiety because the more each scene intensifies, the less you expect it to happen.
The movie was set in 2012, and since power forward Kevin Garnett was still playing that year for the Boston Celtics. The film even added famous performer “The Weeknd,” playing himself as an up-and-coming artist.
2012 was the year the artist was blowing up from what I got in the film. The setting made me feel like I was in 2012 from the editing and the cinematography. However, the film did an excellent job with the sound. The sound in every scene felt like you were having an everlasting argument. It felt loud in a way that nothing good was going to happen. Everything felt fast-paced and intense. I can tell you about an example during the auction scene when everybody made a deal for the opal. You sense a moment of silence throughout the auction, which makes things interesting because, throughout the film, it is everlasting chaos, representing the amount of depth Howard took to make a big bet.
Most importantly, what caught my attention was Sandler’s acting performance. You sense the character’s obsession with gambling and wanting everything to be perfect after Kevin Garnett successfully wins a game after holding onto the opal. The obsession grows so much that he constantly messes up the relationships around him and causes problems for himself. By owing money to many others, most notably to his brother-in-law, in each scene, you sense that nothing good will ever happen to Howard.
Seeing Adam Sandler’s acting ability for Howard’s character made me enjoy the film. Howard is a character who constantly puts himself in harm’s way and gets into many problems, and throughout the film, you see everybody against him. Julia is the only thing on his side, but he messed up a family for her. That is the thing throughout the film. Howard is just a constant screwup in the film, yet as an audience member, you want him to win for once. With many problems in his way, he still has one task in mind: selling that opal to make the most extensive check in his life. Even after Garnett finally buys it with Howard’s money, he can pay off everybody and be set.
However, instead, he chooses to make a bet, which I first assumed he would mess up. Because in the film, that is what he always did: mess up. Locking his brother-in-law and his goons inside the jewelry store and having Julia take the entire money and put in the parlay for Howard, for the first time, something right has happened. Howard won. Sitting in my room seeing a bullet hit Howard’s head was just, wow. The ending scene with Howard smiling on the floor felt odd to me.
He finally got a victory yet shockingly died in the process.
I enjoyed this film overall and saw it as Sandler’s best film. There are many Sandler films I have to see, and maybe I was wrong. In a way, Sandler was in more severe roles before Uncut Gems. However, in my eyes, this film showed the world what Adam Sandler was capable of as an actor alone—a legend.
