#shouldvegottenanoscar

[artn001]

Uncut Gems’ method of handling perspective

Uncut Gems is the story of a hustling jewish jeweller Howard Ratner, who has a destructive addiction to gambling. This movie, not to sound extremely generic, puts you in the mind of the protagonist, who is played excellently by Adam Sandler. The movie is a “stressful” flick, by which I mean at no point in the movie do you feel like you are watching someone make decisions and perform actions, instead, the unique method by which the film has stuck by throughout allows you to get into Howard, the protagonist’s, head and think what he is thinking and feel what he is feeling at every twist and turn, facing every problem as if you’re the one who has to find a way to get out of it.

I found myself many more times than I’d like to admit thinking about how Howard will ‘get out of this one’ which tells you how much the movie was more of a first-hand experience than merely spectating like most conventional movies go.

As the movie progresses we get to know more and more about the protagonist, his addiction to betting on NBA games, his affair with his store clerk and so on. The way these facts are just slid in instead of thrown at you shows how meticulously the script was planned and how everything was placed as it was meant to be placed. Scripted yet having a natural flow.

In the duration of watching the movie I found myself getting o tensed up I had to pause the movie and get up drink a glass of water or just browse apps on my phone. These momentary detachments although had no effect whatsoever on the movie’s flow and every time i jumped back in i found myself equally invested, if not more.

The sounds of the movie are the most subtle and one of the most fundamental components of a great movie. Uncut Gems does not shy away from this fact by displaying a masterful method that puts you in the seat of the mind of Howard Ratnor. At every point in the movie, you see what a day in his life is like, the constant bickering with customers, clerks, his family and the loan sharks. This is all based on the fundamental building block of the movie : the sound. Every minute of this movie is filled by constant conversations, overlapping overtones and consistent chaos. Which reinforces the tense environment of the movie and helps you understand how and what Ratnor faces each and every day. Thus, putting you in the seat and strapping you to it as you watch it all crashing down.

Adam Sandler, is an artist, a master of performances, and dare I say, a gem of this generation of actors.