Uncut Gems review
Watch “SNL: Cajun Man, NCAA” to see the early comic blueprint for Uncut Gems (2019). Or give a listen to Sandler’s song “Moyda” from the CD What’s Your Name, 1997. I sat in The Esquire Theater in Clifton, Cincinnati on Christmas Eve for back to back showings of Uncut Gems. I gave it a B+ that day as the tunnel theme visual effects were a bit clunky, and I’m not a fan of either the modern crime genre nor a lot of close shots. Like most Sandler films it has positive moral lessons: purchase ethical gems; and don’t gamble. However, after watching it for a third time in my world’s only Adam Sandler college course, and a fourth in my Intro to Film class, it’s a solid A-. These are the updated notes used in both classes (the terms in bold coincide with the glossary in the Adult Swim and Comedy 4 textbook):
It’s a period piece beginning in the Fall, 2010 to the main set of Spring, 2012. There are some non professional actors with a lot of screen time (Producer Scorsese’s former father-in-law, Roberto Rossellini, was the main progenitor of the Italian film movement Neorealism, 1945-52, and mixing professional and non was one of its main traits).
Speech B: cursing- Fu#$ word count is likely triple digit!
Speech C: simultaneous dialogue- Garnett and Sandler in the KMH jewelry shop, the phone call in Adley’s auction house lobby (the latter also layers a Sandler trademark,
Speech A: rising volume level).
Actor Character Conflation: cigar scene (spotted by a student in his KSU video) also from the latter, a yarmulke.
Costume: A makeup-prosthetic upper teeth, goatee, multiple bruises,…; B clothes-black leather coat, black Ferragamo loafers and belt with matching hardware, store tag hanging out of the back of his shirt collar,...; C props-opal rock in its wooden container, cell phone, Mercedes, TV remote, Furby with moving eyes; (basketball) hoop earrings on two characters,...
Indigenous Music: The Weeknd performance in blacklight at the nightclub; the stereo the last night at apartment; and in Demany (wears a red hooded sweatshirt in a few scenes) and Howard’s cars (the film is primarily
Background Music featuring a Moog One synthesizer).
Character Streams: from “SNL: Cajun Man, NCAA” skit and also heard in “Moyda”; Click recalled with the line, “Hit pause for one f@#*ing second" and the TV remote prop while he’s being scolded for not spending enough time with his family; Big Daddy child Julian needs to urinate somewhere; Prank calls; Grown Ups gets in trouble at daughter’s school dance performance; Zohan’s prop of fish; Lovitz the peeper from Little Nicky; "You're a moron"; Joe Dirt rock/meteor; crying Sandler; "F@#*ing ref is ridiculous” Eight Crazy Nights and Little Nicky (football The Longest Yard); race car bed,...
Regional: NYC-sports teams/rivalries, both his and Loughran’s accents, actor Judd Hirsch is well known for the NYC set sitcom "Taxi," Magnolia Bakery, …
Physical Characteristics-the height of Adam, 5’10” vs Kevin, 6’11”; and partly the Casino counter manager.
Camera Placement: “I’m claustrophobic”; many close shots in tight spaces-elevators, a tiny foyer with a malfunctioning lock, a crowded SUV, an opal mine, a colonoscopy screen, mention of "tunnel" a few times,…. Great camera work with the Over The Shoulder Shots alternating between Sandler and his spouse at Passover, a painting behind her replicated her dress color and bare back “shoulders” for a pun.
No Dan Patrick, a Sandler regular, but we do have another sports talk pro, Mike Francesca. Free throw “lines”: “He’s got the gem” and "Feel that f@#*ing gem.” Gem of garnet; “Garnet’s a stone, you know that.” Sandler & Garnett = basketball, plus, I think, they’re both dog fans; the latter is missing but Sandler does say “Meatball” at Nino’s Ristorante betting parlor, the name of his first bulldog. “You’re a moron” in several films. “It’s all good” from Eight Crazy Nights.
Cheeseburger Eddy Day in the Adam Sandler class. Terry Crews, fellow MAC conference alumnus and all around good guy, leaves multiple voice messages for the students about his infamous character in The Longest Yard (and talks of his current Sandler films, too).