Uncut Gems  ★★★★

‘THE nominees for Best Actor are…Ádam Sandler’.

That’s a sentence most film critics thought they would never hear.

In fact, they still haven’t, but there were many who felt his performance in 2019’s Uncut Gems deserved an Academy Award nod.

It’s certainly the best performance of his career to date, a perfect blend of aggression, vulnerability, bravado and recklessness, all in the one multi-faceted, complex character.

From the opening sequence when the camera takes us inside a diamond that has just been dug out of a mine in Ethiopia, through the looking glass and emerging in New York via gem dealer Howard Ratner’s anus, you know this film is going to be one hell of a ride.

Think of the final act of Goodfellas, when Ray Liotta’s character is feverishly running around the city in a hyper-state. Now add another two hours and you will have some idea of the beautiful mess created by directing and writing duo Josh and Benny Safdie.

It’s 2012 and Howard Ratner is a hustler in every way, shape and form.

He can’t help himself. He exists at 100 miles an hour, constantly pushing himself to risk one dollar in the pursuit of making two.

He is juggling a wife and a mistress, playing off bookies, loan sharks, customers, suppliers, friends and even relatives.

Howard’s idea of commerce is to borrow from Peter in order to swap goods with Paul in order to sell them to Simon so he can make a bet with John.

We spend a couple of days immersed in this madness with various conflicts in a constant state of rising tension.

It’s a terrific script with multiple threads happening on the screen at any one time.

There’s the central discussion between Howard and one or two people, which regularly erupts into argument, interrupted by Howard’s asides to other people trying to get his attention, either in person or on the phone. There are the discussions other characters are having between themselves and the random questions or threats being leveled by all and sundry, most often at Howard.

This is either fantastic improvisation or a brilliantly constructed script; most likely a combination of both.

As Howard’s make-or-break diamond deal and massive basketball game wager reach their crescendos, the tension becomes almost unbearable.

Uncut Gems is an unique cinema experience.

You can watch in now on Netflix.