Punch-Drunk Love Adam Sandler is Worth Watching
There are two kinds of Adam Sandler: there is Punch-Drunk Love Adam Sandler, an actor who takes a role, pushes himself to be dramatic and hits a home run.
Then, there is the second Adam Sandler, an actor/producer/director who green lights goofy, pseudo-comedic crap (Billy Madison, notwithstanding) that my wife likes and thinks is funny, like Murder Mystery.
Ugh.
Fortunately, you’re getting Punch-Drunk Love Sandler with the trailer drop today of his new film, Uncut Gems.
Executive produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Martin Scorsese, with Elara Pictures and RT Features producing the film, and directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, from a screenplay by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, and Ronald Bronstein, this looks like the type of Adam Sandler I think we should support with our dollars, our time, and our attention.
But, don’t believe me.
Watch this thing below:
Kevin Garnett Gets a Lot of Screen Time
I was always a fan of the basketball player, Kevin Garnett, and he gets a lot of screen time in this trailer (as opposed to Jonah Hill, who doesn’t), which makes me a little hesitant to support Uncut Gems without reservations.
I mean, I know basketball players can flop like no one’s business these days, and I guess that’s a form of acting?
But, they didn’t go with Amar’e Stoudemire so, as a Jordan fan, that makes me breathe easier.
By the way, the film, which premiered at Telluride Film Festival in August, is already generating some buzz around Sandler’s performance, which we covered yesterday, here.
And I quote from the geniuses at Wikipedia:
“On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 8.24/10. Its critical consensus states, “Uncut Gems reaffirms the Safdies as masters of anxiety-inducing cinema — and proves Adam Sandler remains a formidable dramatic actor when given the right material.” Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating “universal acclaim.”
Cool. I’m in.
That’s all you had to say.
I’m in.
You’re Just A Crazy Jew.
Yes. Sandler is a “crazy Jew.” But he’s also a manic one who looks like his life is falling apart here in Uncut Gems.
The diamonds, the girlfriend, the gangsters, the wannabes and the intricacies of being a losing, degenerate gambler, all appear to come together here in one fell swoop.
Uncut Gems, distributed by Netflix and A24, drops on December 13, 2019.
