AARP Hearing Center
Rating: R
Run time: 2 hour 14 minutes
Stars: Adam Sandler, Eric Bogosian, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett
Directors: Josh and Bennie Safdie
I never understood why anyone thought Adam Sandler, 53, was so funny that viewers spent $4 billion to see his comedies. That nasal fake-child voice is excruciatingly grating. But as a dramatic actor, he's been good for years, and he's never been as impressive as he is as the New York jeweler, gambler, dreamer and self-defeating buffoon Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems. His office is so crummy the door keeps getting stuck, which comes in handy when angry mob types visit to inquire about Howard's ever-proliferating debts and find themselves trapped behind the glass, shouting threats.
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Howard has more than mobsters to fret about. His wife (Idina Menzel, 48) calls him “the most annoying person I have ever met. I hate being with you, I hate looking at you, and if I had my way, I would never see you again.” She has a point, though for some reason Howard's dishy mistress (Julia Fox) loves him anyhow — not that she'll pass up the flattering opportunity to get pawed behind closed doors by the rap star The Weeknd, provoking Howard's hypocritical jealousy.
Still, appallingly sleazy as he is, Howard is a fool who has his charms. Even his annoying, keening voice is redeemed by his clueless kindliness — and in the context of a character we care about, it's funnier than ever. Howard's heart is as sweet as his mind is unwisely imaginative, and his ambition is quenchless. When he loses a sports bet, does he give up? No! He pawns something someone loaned him and makes another bet to cover it. Then another to cover that, robbing Peter (and as many others as necessary) to pay Paul.