Theory Thursday: Adam Sandler is Doing Some of His Career-Best Work Right Now (2015-Present)

Scene from Hubie Halloween

Welcome to a sporadic column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Review: "Uncut Gems" Bets Big with Exciting Results

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.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "The Meyerowitz Stories" (2017)

Scene from The Meyerowtiz Stories

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

The First "Uncut Gems" Trailer Finds Adam Sandler Stealing Our Hearts in Exciting New Ways

Scene from Uncut Gems

In 2017, co-directors Josh and Benny Safdie made a splash with the visceral and manic Good Time: a film that helped Robert Pattinson be taken more seriously. Many are hoping that their follow-up, Uncut Gems, will do the same for Adam Sandler. The comedian has had a reputation for lowbrow films that leave a notorious aura around him. In recent years, he has made more of a concerted effort to take dramatic turns such as The Meyerowitz Stories that prove he's capable of so much more. Given the reviews out of recent film festivals, Sandler is looking at one of his best roles yet. The real question is that with a New Academy where nominees are more unpredictable than ever, can almost 30 years of wacky comedies continue to hold back Sandler from an Oscar nomination? If the trailer for Uncut Gems has anything to say about it we may be looking at one of the most enlightening turning points of his career yet.