‘Uncut Gems,’ A Very Different Kind of Adam Sandler Movie, is Now on Netflix

Uncut Gems is now on Netflix in the U.S.—after having been on Netflix outside of the U.S for months—and since you can’t go outside this Memorial Day, you might as well hunker down and watch Adam Sandler in the best performance of his career.

But I must warn you: If you click on Uncut Gems in your Netflix feed merely because it’s an Adam Sandler movie, you might not get what you’re looking for. If you’ve got Murder Mystery, The Do-Over, Father of the Year, Sandy Wexler, and even The Wrong Missy in your “recently watched” list, and you’re feeling pretty good about that, well… I’m not saying you won’t enjoy Uncut Gems, but you may want to adjust your mindset before you hit play.

Uncut Gems is not a product of Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Production. Uncut Gems is, in fact, a production of the sibling directing duo, Josh and Benny Safdie. If you’re not familiar with the Safdie Brothers, well, first of all, Decider has a handy guide to the Safdie Brothers’ filmography for you to peruse, and you can also watch another one of their films, Good Time, on Netflix. But, in general, you should know that the filmmakers are known for their gritty, uncomfortable, and almost disorientingly bleak depiction of our world. You know how some indie filmmakers romanticize real life in their movies? The Safdies Brothers do the opposite of that.

And they do it very well in Uncut Gems, which is loosely based on stories they heard from their father, who used to work in New York City’s diamond district. Sandler stars as Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American New York City jeweler, and gambling addict. Despite the fact that Howard seems to have a pretty good life—including a beautiful wife (Idina Menzel) and two kids—he’s constantly chasing something bigger. Howard places a series of elaborate, high-stakes bets involving one very precious gem, and one very superstitious NBA player (Kevin Garnett, playing himself). It quickly spirals out of control.

Uncut Gems became known as one of the most anxiety-inducing films of 2019, and for good reason. A blaring soundtrack refuses to let you relax for all 135 minutes of the film—though even a peaceful piano concerto likely wouldn’t detract from the stress of watching Howard Ratner make the exact wrong decision time and time again. But if you can handle the heat, you’ll get to appreciate Sandler at his very best as an actor. Though he didn’t quite manage to get the Oscar nomination, as many hoped and thought he would, he did win the prize for Best Male Lead at the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards. His acceptance speech for that, alone, is worth an Oscar.)

So do go ahead and stream Uncut Gems on Netflix. Just don’t expect any fart jokes or vaguely Mexican accents when you do.

Where to watch Uncut Gems