It takes nearly two minutes for the Uncut Gems trailer to get to the line, “You havin’ a good time?” But anyone who saw writer-directors Josh and Benny Safdie’s last effort doesn’t need to wait for Adam Sandler’s reply to know the answer. This is indeed quite a Good Time.
Very much like their delightfully stressful 2017 cult favorite, Uncut Gems again sees the brothers following a big scumbag of New York City’s periphery as he hits up shady businesses where bill counters pile up even shadier money—with gritty photography and a thumping soundtrack giving it all an edge-of-your-seat immediacy. Sandler, doing a rare grown-up movie between Grown Ups movies, stars as said scumbag. He plays, to quote Lakeith Stanfield’s Demany, “some fuckin’ crazy-ass Jew” deep in the sports gambling and jewel trades. Naturally, it all gets him in some deep shit, and the results lead to, at minimum, having his banged-up nose plugged like he’s Frank Reynolds.
Also, somehow Sandler isn’t the most unlikely member of this cast. Idina Menzel, Kevin Garnett, Lakeith Stanfield, Judd Hirsch, The Weeknd, and Pom Klementieff round out the film’s eclectic lineup.
Uncut Gems hits theaters December 13.
