It is probably every comic actor’s dream to be taken seriously as an actor. Their dream come true would be to be just like Steve Martin and Jim Carey. It would be nice for this to happen to Adam Sandler. He will have to keep hoping for his dream to come true. Sandler’s movie, Uncut Gems, gets this title only because its been projected onto the big screen.
This mess of a movie, has Adam Sandler playing Howard Ratner, an unscrupulous jeweler. He has a wife, Dinah, played by Idina Menzel, and a mistress, Julia De Fiore, (Julia Fox). Ms. De Fiore is the only bright light, in this otherwise disappointing film. She’s good in the scene, when she’s arguing with Sandler’s character, when he’s getting into a cab.The heart of the story is Sandler’s character has secured uncut gems, and hopes to auction them off for an obscene profit.
Kevin Garnett comes into Ratner’s store, and takes an interest in his gems. Ratner says Garnett can hold onto them, until the auction, with Garnett’s Boston Celtics championship ring as security. Garnett agrees and leaves with the gems.
The movie rambles, showing Howard Ratner’s frantic pacing. It’s secondary storyline concentrates on his erratic relationship with his mistress Julia, and his crumbling marriage. Howard’s life is further screwed up by the fact that he owes a great deal of money to his brother-in-law. He isn’t making payments so he sends his enforcer, Phil, (Keith Williams Richards). Phil beats up Ratner more than a few times, even taking his clothes, and locking him in his Mercedes. You never feel sympathy for Howard, because he’s such an arrogant loudmouth. You find yourself almost laughing at his misfortune.
Howard Ratner gets his gems back from Kevin Garnett, and does succeed in getting an auction price for them. It isn’t what he wanted, but he still made a profit. Never doing the right thing, or the smart thing, he gives the money to his mistress, to place a bet at the casino. He wins the bet, but upsets Phil so much, that he shoots Howard in the head. Phil also kills one of his parters, and proceeds to loot the store. Howard’s mistress, leaves with the winnings.
There are many things that make this film bad. Even though it is a directoral technique, the rambling camera shots thoroughly destroy an already bad film. Adam Sandler is not acting, he’s just yelling and screaming, and being a jerk throughout the film. This couldn’t even be called method acting at its worst. Sandler could get an award for most profanities uttered by a movie character. He should study the serious Steve Martin and Jim Carey films. It also would help if a bad script is rejected. The script was written in part by the directors, which explains a lot.
There are one or two things that are good with the film, always a challenge in a film like this. Kevin Garnett has acting ability, and his back and forth with his entourage, provides some light moments. Idina Menzel as Dinah Ratner, shows her disgust and frustration with her husband. This is particularly evident, when she sees him coming out of the trunk of his Mercedes, after she unlocks it.
The beginning of the film shows a graphic mining accident injury. It only gets worse from there. The beginning credits show a colonoscopy. The audience after viewing this waste of celluloid, may feel that they’ve just had one.