Hoo boy! It finally happened! After and excruciatingly long wait, I finally got to see the Safdie brothers anticipated Uncut Gems, and it was totally worth the wait!
After seeing their film, Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson a couple years back, I knew when this film started getting talked about that I had to see it. Good Time was a fly by the seat of your pants chase, and I thought it was crazy. But Uncut Gems was straight up WILD! It was 134 minutes of anxiety and non-stop noise. Clearly, all those elements were arranged with such finesse by the Safdie brothers, but it was stroke of genius.
Within the first five minutes I wondered if the Safdie brothers ever had anyone else in mind to play Sandler’s Howard Ratner, because this role was truly made for him. He got to live his best life by basically yelling his lines for about 95% of the film, and he just got do endure so many different elements! All the other supporting characters in this film were also acted expertly, but this was Sandler’s show and he commanded your attention from the start. I was so invested in this movie, that the final scene was quite a shock. Quit sitting on your hands and go see this before Adam wins an Oscar (calling it now)!
While I didn’t have high hopes for Little Women, which I went to see directly after the high that was Uncut Gems, I was very pleasantly surprised by this adaptation. Even though this film was set way back in the day, everything felt very fresh and lively in every scene, and there wasn’t a single character to hate, even when some of them did some suspect things.
The story centers on the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, along with their mother Marmie, and a sea of other characters. We meet Laurie (played by the internet’s boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet), who ingratiates himself into the March sisters’ inner circle, clearly smitten with Jo. The only thing is, Jo doesn’t want love in her life. She wants to be successful on her own terms and create her own happiness. Her sisters don’t quite share the same outlook, which does cause tension at time.
Yes, there are a few tearful moments throughout, but lots of laughs and heartfelt interactions. Also, the cast is stacked, so why wouldn’t you high-tail it to the theater to go see this feel-good film? While I have never read the novel that this movie is adapted from, I understand that some more unpleasant parts are smoothed over a bit, but it essentially stays true to the text. So go see it while you’ve still got time off (just maybe not right after Uncut Gems).