One could say that the Safdie brothers Benny and Josh were not truly born into the film industry’s consciousness until 2017’s Good Time, another New York-centric film centered on a man that really doesn’t know when to quit when it comes to get rich quick schemes. In this film, too, is the backbone of what makes their work “signature”: a Kafkaesque series of events that even Job would have difficulty with and somewhere, lurking in the background, a Shylock stereotype of a Jew looking to collect on some debt owed by the anti-hero. Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is nothing if not that anti-hero, who, like Connie in Good Time (though to a slightly less criminal degree), is constantly trying to find a way to get his hands on some more money (the Safdie brothers, being Jewish, are perhaps “allowed” to perpetuate the stereotype of the money-grubbing New York Jew, aroused by the sight of shiny objects as Howard very literally is in his jewelry shop). This often results in ill-advised bets delivered in obscene amounts to a bookie that usually balks at his choices.
Commencing with a scene in 2010 in which an Ethiopian mine worker is brutally injured and a slew of Chinese “supervisors” proceed to yell in anger at those helping him (therefore briefly pausing from their work), we’re taken into the mine to see an uncut opal discovered by two miners, which, in 2012, finds its way into the hands of Howard after the camera weaves its way through the rock and back out through the lens of Howard’s colonoscopy (“Jews and colon cancer–what is that?”). Having learned about the existence of Ethiopian Jews (a.k.a. “African Jews”) from a special on the History Channel, Howard finds a way to finagle the opal, getting it shipped to him by way of stowing away inside of a giant fish (this prompts one of his disgruntled employees to seethe, “You lookin’ like a fool out here in the Diamond District–looking through a fuckin’ fish!”). The sight of the opal gets him so enthusiastic (“I’m gonna cum”) that he forgets about all the problems looming–the massive amount of money he owes to his brother-in-law, Arno (Eric Bogosian), the impending divorce with his wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel), and the overly flirtatious with other men ways of his girlfriend, Julia (Julia Fox). Nothing matters except that this opal exists, and it’s in his possession.
It just so happens that Demany (Lakeith Stanfield), a stooge, of sorts, of Howard’s that gets a portion of the profit when he brings in high profile clients, is in the store with Kevin Garnett (with an appropriate last name for a movie centered around stones and jewelry) at the time of Howard’s receipt of the package. For those wondering about the necessity of Uncut Gems being set specifically in 2012 (a haunting year that just won’t die), it has to do with the Safdie brothers approaching the right retired basketball player to tailor the narrative to. In 2012, Garnett was at the center of the Eastern conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. Considering the pressure on him at this time, it’s no wonder he’s so susceptible to the yarn Howard spins about the stone, stating, “They say you can see the whole universe in opals, that’s how fuckin’ old they are… Middle Earth shit.” And as Garnett stares into the abyss of the opal with Howard’s magnifier, he becomes so entranced that he falls through the glass of the counter. He has to have it. Problem is, Howard already has plans to auction it off and can’t sell it. Garnett, incensed, shouts, “Why the fuck would you show me somethin’ if I couldn’t have it then?” Well, there’s not a lot of thought behind most of what Howard does. It’s all instinct and desire. Like so many who find themselves victims of New York’s curse: making one believe that everything is about money and status.
If that’s the case, Howard is fast becoming a zero as all his half-cocked schemes orbiting around the stone start to fall like ill-fated dominoes, aimed at finally toppling him last in one grand, dramatic denouement. The unstoppable spiral starts around the time he goes to a club where The Weeknd is performing. It’s here that, after being unable to get back in at first, he discovers Julia has been alone with him in the bathroom for some time. Howard might be a boob, but he still knows there was more going on in there than just snorting lines.
On the note of The Weeknd’s presence in the film, the other likely reason 2012 was so important to the time “period” of Uncut Gems is perhaps because it was still a moment in NY history when musicians were “coming up” more tangibly (as opposed to relying entirely on the internet for fame) and also aware that to become famous, one had to be of the people in the germinal phases of performing. Just as The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) did. Hence, Howard’s girlfriend showing him a picture she took of him and saying (in that dumb bitch, “I’m so superior because I live in New York way”), “He’s gonna be major. Even though he’s from Canada.” Howard rebuffs her hypothesis with, “This guy looks stupid.” Still does. But that doesn’t stop Howard from pawning The Weeknd’s Michael Jackson as Jesus jewel-encrusted crucifix to scrounge up some money for another bet. Nor does he have any qualms about pawning the championship ring Garnett gives him as collateral in exchange for him to keep hold of the opal stone for a night (which turns out to be longer than that, much to Howard’s stress-addled chagrin).
With Arno and his leg-breaking henchmen in continuous pursuit, he’s cornered at his daughter’s school play (in another Jewish caricature moment, she coughs out a series of gold coins to Howard’s delight, as he coos, “Wow.”). That the play is a rendition of fairy tale pioneer Charles Perrault’s Diamonds and Toads is a pointed choice on the part of the Safdie brothers. And seems only to cruelly bait him for the fact that he can’t spit gold coins, jewels and precious metals in his own life. Instead doomed to the fate of the eldest sister, Fanny, condemned to only eject toads and snakes whenever she speaks. The same seems to go for Howard, whose web of lies is increasingly coming apart at the center. No longer able to cover his tracks or keep asking for favors, he realizes just how deep in over his head he is when his win on the bet placed with money from Garnett’s ring is rendered null after Arno retracts it, chastising him with, “I heard you resurfaced your fuckin’ swimming pool, you know how that makes me feel?” This, of course, alludes to the money Howard thinks he’s won, only to be gut-punched by the revelation that Arno stopped the bet through his goonish flunkies.
Watching Howard continue to willingly destroy himself despite all the obvious signs presented to him is, of course, the stuff that Oscar-nominated films are made of (when they’re not complete cheeseball bullshit like Green Book). Yet somehow, it feels like just as hollow of an experience as watching a man watch a basketball game for the bulk of the third act climax. We don’t need to see over two hours of Howard’s life to know that he’s damned (just as most people are who keep spinning inside the wheel of New York, convinced their fortune will improve). What’s worse, there’s no real reason to root for him either (unless one dreads a fear of being deemed anti-Semitic for not being that invested in this character’s fate). He’s a schmuck, through and through.
The Diamond District (whether in New York or Antwerp), for all of its precious, shining stones and baubles, is a lusterless place (also kind of like New York and Antwerp). One that most try to avoid if they can. Uncut Gems, too, bears a similar quality. While touted as one of the best films of the year, going into the banal-in-its-ugliness environment required to pick up a gem or two doesn’t ultimately feel worth it. Especially when appraising this “jewel” in the Safdie canon and comparing it to the far more flawless Good Time. On the plus side, at least they still got Oneohtrix Point Never a.k.a. Daniel Lopatin to score this soundtrack as well, driving the ominous undertones of the narrative toward its inevitable conclusion.
