Sorry guys I'm a bit late to the party but I just saw Uncut Gems starring Adam Sander last night,

The movie keeps its audience in a constant state of instability and chaos (which I later found interesting) but the ending really confused me...

It felt like all the stress and sympathy that I constantly kept developing throughout the film because of Howard's helplessness went straight to trash because of his tragic death :(

After bottling so much sadness for him, I really thought that him winning the last gamble can FINALLY be a huge catharsis and release tension - but instead it got even worse because he just died!?

Now it feels like the movie just ended with an amazing music track but left some of us completely stranded without closure :O

Does anyone else feel the same? (You're free to oppose :))

Just got around to watching the movie last night. It was an enjoyable but quite harsh movie in that there is no one I really identified with and rooted for. Adam Sandler did have a compelling performance.

Stupid question about the ending when both Howard and Arnold was shot and killed in the jewelry store. The two goons have basically locked themselves inside the store, right? One door has to be closed before the other can open, and one person has to buzz the other out.

I doubt either one would be willing to be left behind for the police to discover. So both of them will get caught. Right?

In the title but again SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

I saw Uncut Gems the other day and loved it, really excellent movie, stressed the hell out of me. The movie is kinda predictable but more in a way that makes you say "god I hope X doesn't happen" and then it of course does. One of these predictable events is how Howard will end the movie, which just so happens to be with a bullet in the cheek. It's really not a surprise based on his actions and "affiliates," but I was still a bit disappointed that he had to die and it is sort of tragic.

The reason I'm making this post though is not to say I wish Howard didn't die but rather, was Howard dying really worse/more tragic than him living?

Personally while I enjoy the ending of the film and am unsure whether the Safdies were going for a "tragic" ending, I think if they were it would have been better to leave Howard alive. Howard was a scumbag and no matter how big he won he'd never change or give up his wild and dangerous lifestyle. I think that had Howard lived at the end of this story that he still would have died later, but perhaps would have gotten even more people hurt/killed or who knows what else.

So yeah again, was Howard dying really worse/more tragic than if he had lived?

Also if Howard did live at the end, how do you think it changes the theme/moral of the film?

Howard survived? I mean he did get shot in the cheek, not the actual head. Also, his wife called the police as well, so it is possible that the mobsters ended up getting arrested before they dumped the bodies. I just feel so upset with the ending, and I am wondering if you guys think it was ambiguous enough for this possibility to have happened.

Ok so who did the guy who killed Sandler call while he was in the glass room? Why did the creepy cartoon perv cash and deliver the money to Julia while he was with the goons from the same crew as the guy with the gun?

Did Julia coerce with those thugs to keep the money for herself? Did I miss something here?

Just saw the movie tonight. Sandler was very good of course but to me, the stars of the show were the Safdie brothers. They are clearly masters of pacing and tension (also used well in Good Time). I can’t last remember a film that had such wall-to-wall tension as “Gems”.

That ending left me shocked but probably shouldn’t have. I think Arno’s henchman decided he was going to kill Howard once they were all locked in. The way he was glaring at him, seemed he knew this was going to be a never-ending game with Howard and I just think he was done with it. I don’t think it was a “snap decision” when the door opened.

What I didn’t expect was for him to kill Arno. That’s kind of what I’m not sure I get. Arno was his boss, no? He (Phil) is creating a huge shit storm by offing him. He’s gonna have to leave town for sure.

Anyway, I love what the Safdie brothers have done here...kind of suggesting there’s no happy endings likely for someone this out of control. Amazing film.

Spoiler alert- do not read below if you haven’t seen the film.

I liked this film. It had mysticism woven into mundane reality, and a trippy synth score. But, the ending annoyed me a little. Firstly because I knew those guys were going to kill him after being locked up for hours in that glass cage. I mean, for him to think otherwise is just ridiculous! And then when he did get killed I was annoyed that we couldn’t experience him being happy for longer than five minutes. I get why he had to die and the point they were trying to make, it just seemed like a cop out of sorts because I knew that would happen and because him being foolish enough to let them out with no security around to protect him was just too brainless. Couldn’t they have made him a bit wiser in that moment? I’d love to hear others thoughts about the ending and about the film in general.

I’ve never been more angry as a movie ending.

I mean from the get-go I knew that it was going to be an unhappy ending for Howard and I was just waiting for the moment. Even at the end with the basketball game I knew something was going to happen afterwards, I was sure that Arno or someone was going to kill him. The soundtrack and constant tension just set it up, did anyone else feel the same?

I’m so mad Howard died like come on man he finally won the bet and won a lot of money then got the his girl back but then they fucking kill him for what? They were going to get paid. I’m not very film savvy (or however you say it) so idk if there’s some hidden meaning by it but come on man. Why couldn’t he live so he didn’t worry about his debt anymore and finally start living a happy life? Ugh

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll.

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here.

Rankings

Click here to see rankings for 2019 films

Click here to see rankings for every poll done

Summary:

Howard Ratner, a charismatic New York City jeweler, is always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Director:

Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie

Writers:

screenplay by Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie

Cast:

• Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner

• Kevin Garnett as himself

• Idina Menzel as Dinah Ratner

• Lakeith Stanfield as Demany

• Julia Fox as Julia

• Eric Bogosian as Arno

• The Weeknd as himself

• Paloma Elsesser as Kat

• Keith Williams Richards as Phil

• Judd Hirsch as Gooey

• Mike Francesa as Gary

• Noa Fisher as Marcel

• Pom Klementieff as Lexus

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Metacritic: 89/100

After Credits Scene? No

. . . . . . So in the end, after Arno's right hand man and the other goon kill both Howard and Arno, they start robbing the shop.

Many people online are pointing out that there was no point in robbing the shop since they're actually stuck inside there due to the faulty door, and wont be able to escape before the police arrives.

But after KG's team won the game, we clearly see Howard put in that sharp thing at the electrical socket (or whatever) of the door to open it. Then when the goons are robbing, wouldn't they be able to escape due to the instrument still being stuck there and therfore the door being functional?

Killed Howard point blank? I understand that Howard was pushing his luck from the start and that locking them was pretty damn bad.

But they actually won over a million dollars in that bet. Was it a shot in the dark? It was, but he did it. If it failed I could understand it better but everyone there would've gotten a better deal out of it.

Was it just because Phil really didn't like Howard and had it with him? Did he value his pride over his money and freedom?

I saw it on so many lists, trying to catch up on some movies I missed in the last years but while I get what's it trying to portray it's just two obnoxious hours of people talking at the same time. The Soundtrack is too loud, there's nothing special about the ways it's filmed (although the KG parts are cool) and overall it seems to be trying too much. Some acting seems a bit forced and the camera lingers for too long in some scenes.

Worst scene by far is Howie (Adam Sandler) and Julia (Julia Fox) crying in his office. Also the end is not that surprising.

So, what is your take and why does it deserve to be on the list of top movies of the last years?

EDIT: thanks for your opinions :) it's also interesting to see that people who liked the movie get upvoted and people who don't like it get downvoted in the comments.

Just opened in NY and LA. What did you think?

Is it just me, or did everyone make a big deal about a very mid movie?

The plot was weak. Crazy weak. And what little there was, was overshadowed by much-too-loud 80's synth pop music. The protagonist also had zero arc. Which is fine, not all movies need it. But the movie certainly builds it as if there would be some type of change in his character. The only times he isn't incessantly arguing without whoever he is around, he is getting his face punched in or stripped naked and thrown into a car. The sheer fact that he doesn't make any change whatsoever is reality breaking (especially for a movie that tries desperately to just show human nature).
And the ending. The ending makes no sense. Not that the main character wins 1.2 million dollars but that he is shot immediately after. It felt like the director was trying to justify the main character winning. But it was absurd because it was by a man that appeared to be in his forties and would have obviously been in the game long enough to know there were cameras that saw him enter, witnesses that saw him enter, and a long track record of his run ins with the main character. Not to mention he shot his own boss—a man we had NEVER seen him have conflict. This kind of event both happening at the end AND being so defining for the story MUST be foreshadowed or at least hinted at before occurring or else it comes off as cheap.

I have no idea why this movie received such high praise and I can absolutely understand why it received no Oscar nominations.

The crazy part about Uncut Gems is that it is said the Black Opal is supposed to bring you good luck while also revealing your true character. It really makes the end of the film deeper and more haunting when you think about Adam Sandler finally having something actually go his way after two hours of watching everything he tries fall apart but it ultimately shows his true character as a gambling maniac which also leads to him getting capped by ol boy.

It’s also crazy how the movie opens by traveling through the insides of the Black Opal and then the movie ends with a travel into Sandler’s bullet hole in his head which weirdly resembles the insides of a Black Opal almost like they wanna show that it really consumed him the whole time like it originally consumes Kevin Garnett.

There's a lot of prominent symbolism and recurring themes in this movie. The most prominent to me was individuals being trapped, confined, or separated from others by barriers, and the consequences of those barriers breaking. This theme drives the story and is present in almost every major plot development.

Elaborating, there's a theme of Howard trapping and confining himself, which echoes how he is trapping himself in debt with his gambling addiction and refuses to pay off his debts when he gets a windfall.

Along with the theme of barriers and separation, there's also a theme of something either good or bad happening immediately after a barrier is removed or somebody escapes confinement.

Good: escaping the trunk and getting to see his daughter perform. Surprising Julia from the closet. KG bonding with the stone (debatable good or bad) after the display breaks. The fish (at least one) surviving after being rescued.

Bad: assaulting The Weeknd when the bathroom door opens. Getting shot in the head when the double doors open. Demany discovering his fake Rolexes are gone when he opens the safe.

There's also the theme of his glasses, and him losing them multiple times and this being a very big deal. There's a lot I could say about the symbolism of him being blind to what's happening, the consequences of what he's doing, and where he's headed.

He also has a prominent strange looking mole on his right cheek which looks a lot like the bullet hole the camera zooms in on symmetrically on the other side.

Going back to the fish, that imagery felt very biblical with the cough syrup looking like blood engulfing the fish, which echoes the wine being splattered on the plate when they list the ten plagues at Passover, with blood being the first plague.

There's also references to other things such as coachroaches echoing the locusts, him being thrown into the fountain, but I don't know how much more.

There's also the constant theme of Howard running out of time, and being on borrowed time. There's subtle moments like when the camera lingers on the microwave and then the food is ready way sooner than the amount of time that it should have taken. There's also just the constantly being late and asking for more time.

What did you guys make of the little old Jewish man that keeps showing up about a debt? The guy he gives the fake Rolex to. For some reason I felt like it was a big mistake for Howard to keep ignoring him, but I don't know why, as he never seemed to have any real affect on the plot. Which begs the question of why did he keep showing up? What did it mean? Besides reminding us that Howard owes a lot of money to multiple people.

There's a lot to unpack and analyze. My biggest curiosity is if anybody noticed a pattern with the barriers and confinement, and how the consequences influenced the plot or Howard.

I had to take several breaks watching this movie, as it was just too damn tense and anxiety inducing to stomach in one sitting for me. Not that that's a bad thing. I haven't reacted this way to a movie in a long time. I just can't imagine having the stomach to watch it again, although I want to!