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| Scene from Uncut Gems |
It's safe to say that Howard "Bling" Ratner (Adam Sandler) hasn't done anything with his life. It may not seem that way because he is one of the most respected jewelry salesmen in New York, managing to have a personal connection to NBA star Kevin Garnett. He is capable of making a profit with simple negotiation tactics and high-risk betting. One would assume that Howard is a very lucky man, but over the course of co-directors, Josh and Benny Safdie's neurotic masterpiece Uncut Gems, his life begins to unwind as one bad deal leads to a downward spiral of choices that puts him further in debt with mobsters that want him dead. Still, with no actual skill except negotiation, how does he stand any chance of making it out alive? It's the type of radical survival skills that makes Sandler's performance so electric, serving as one of his best. For a man who doesn't have much to show for himself that he personally earned, it's a story of desperation that shows the problem with the American dream when all you want is to get rich.
