After our own Mike Ryan screened Uncut Gems at TIFF last month, he unhesitatingly agreed, “Give an Oscar to the Sandman.” He’s not alone, for Uncut Gems is that movie that recently held a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That rating has since slipped to 94%, which almost always happens with the passage of time, but the overriding message is clear: the Safdie Brothers may have packaged Sandler at his greatest. Even greater than within Punch Drunk Love? This trailer sure seems to suggest as much.
In fact, you might actually forget all about Murder Mystery while watching Sandler tear down the street — as a shady and desperate diamond dealer/hustler — in a seat-gripping crime drama that doesn’t feel unlike the Al Pacino and Robert De Niro films of the 1980s. Co-starring Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, and The Weeknd, Uncut Gems hails from A24, which can’t seem to miss lately, and Safdie Brothers certainly hold plenty of goodwill after helming Good Time with Robert Pattinson.
Of course, “gritty” as a descriptor gets a bad rap these days when it comes to almost any movie or TV project, but it truly appears to apply to this movie for the better. You can practically feel the grit between Sandler’s teeth while he confronts those who wish to do him (and his family) harm after a series of his unwise decisions involving a rare opal that’s worth an ungodly amount of money. Variety called this his “most unhinged performance yet,” and IndieWire declared that the movie “suggests Mean Streets by way of Preston Sturges, with a touch of Death of a Salesman to boot.” Can’t wait.
Uncut Gems arrives in theaters on December 13.
