You did this to yourself; Uncut Gems

This is my second time watching Uncut Gems. My partner had never seen it, so I obliged to watch as well to make this review. 

If you want to see Adam Sandler in a more serious role, definitely give this movie a try. The movie is worth the watch, but if it was never seen, you really wouldn’t be missing much. Once you know the synopsis, what you think will happen is most likely going to happen…except for the ending. The ending itself makes this a positive turnout, but I’ll explain that in a bit.

Movie follows Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a Jewish-American jeweler in New York City, who is into gambling. The main object of this movie, is a rare black opal that Howard had smuggled in from Ethiopia. At the start of the movie we learn that Howard is in debt with shady people and this opal is the key to his restoration. Even though he’s in debt, Howard continues to gamble—specifically on the NBA, during this intense moment in his life. The movie takes place in the year 2012, to coincide with NBA player Kevin Garnett, who played at the time and is a character in the movie. 

During the movie, there is always background music being played to match the emotions of the scene. This was pointed out to me by my partner who noticed early on. Even during normal dialogue moments, you can still hear the score in the back, adding to the noise. The whole movie is made to be a constant action—something always going on, showcasing the hectic lifestyle Howard lives and thrives in. A moment where I could not hear any background sounds was a moment when Howard turns off the music being played in his apartment. Silence. He’s alone—not just physically, but emotionally as well. There’s also a good cosmic, entrancing theme played when focusing on the gem and at the end of the movie.

Now to the major spoiler, the ending. Turn back now if you still want to watch this movie without being spoiled.

Spoilers, he dies. Before it happens, you kind of think maybe things will turnout for the better, but it happens. Howard makes a big bet instead of paying off his debt and the men who came to collect, are trapped in between security doors in a glass case at his store. They watch the whole game while the men are stuck and drenched in sweat. When it ends, Howard exclaims that he just hit it big and is ecstatic, his payout being over a million dollars. The men in the case, are his brother-in-law who loaned him the money, and two henchmen working for him. After the game, the brother in law looks content with the situation as it looks like he’s finally getting his money—but his henchmen…not so much. As soon as Howard let the men out of the case, he gets shot in the face by a henchmen. This henchmen threatened Howard early on, multiple times. So after being stuck in a glass case for hours—the whole length of a NBA game, he shoots Howard.

At the end of the movie, you, the audience, could tell something negative was going to happen. Maybe at first, Howard would die when the brother-in-law and henchmen came—but then they got trapped. So maybe he would lose the bet near the end of the game and lose all the money—but he ended up winning. After watching all these hurdles Howard went through, you are expecting something negative to happen. When you finally see Howard get that win, for a second you think, is something positive actually going to happen?

The ending is poetic; Howard is addicted to gambling. Any time he gets a large sum of money, he makes a bet to make it bigger; in the movie he was right—twice. The first bet was canceled by his brother in law right before the game started, but Howard would have gotten a good payout. So when the second time came to make a bet later in the movie, Howard lets his brother-in-law stay stuck. Sure, he could have let them go after the game started, but the brother-in-law could have stolen all the money from the girlfriend who left to go place the bet. When the game is over, Howard is at his most high—he just won a million dollars. With no fear or worry in his mind, he opens the security door and immediately, it’s over. Howard achieved the goal all gambling addicts hope to reach, winning big. Now that he achieved it, his story has ended. He died at his happiest.

Score – 7.5 out of 10