peteg's blog - noise - movies - 2020 03 27 UncutGems

Uncut Gems (2019)

Fri, Mar 27, 2020./noise/movies | Link

Adam Sandler on a downward spiral. It's very NYC Jewish, set mostly in the jewelry trading district. Writers/directors the Safdie brothers (previously unknown to me) do a fine job with a character who isn't exactly a loser and doesn't make precisely the same mistakes time and again. There's excess referentiality, Chekhovian devices, and Altman-style overlapping dialogue that is sometimes difficult to sieve. I was hoping to see Eric Bogosian let rip; time has not been kind to him. It's easily the best Sandler vehicle I've seen. Written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, with Ronald Bronstein assisting with the writing.

Dana Stevens. Manohla Dargis.