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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 FEBRUARY 2020 20 FILM APART from our innate fear of the inevitability or death, the fact that human beings are messy, unpredictable and of- ten utterly idiotic creatures is among the chief reasons why we keep making art. We tell sto- ries to each other in large part because we want to figure each other out, but also because the nexus of our desires often runs a rich, complex gamut whose dial is poised from embarrassing to destructive, with all the various shades in between. The force of bloody-mind- ed stupidity has, in fact, led to some of the most memora- ble pieces of cinema in recent memory. The inherently far- cical but also potentially trag- ic energy that lies lodged in humanity's ability to behave against their own best interests to attain some kind of short- term goal is a crucial ingredient of many of the Coen Brothers' finest films, for example. But that largely unbested sib- ling duo may have just bound its contemporary iteration, as Josh and Benny Safide (Heaven Knows What, Good Time) have just allowed Netflix to unleash their latest jolt of toxic adren- aline onto the world at large, and oh boy is it a rollercoaster to remember. Uncut Gems finds Adam Sandler take on a career-best role as Howard Ratner, a New York jeweller and gambling addict who is in too deep with more shady players than he can count, and who does himself no favours by courting a retinue of high-powered players from the world of sports with the help of a useful and equally indefatiga- ble assistant, Demany (Lakeith Stanfield). One of these poten- tially lucrative contracts is ce- lebrity basketball player Kevin 'KG' Garnett of the Boston Celtics (playing himself), who insists on holding on to a rare black opal that has come in- to Howard's possession, fresh from the Webo mine in Africa and set for a slot on a lucrative New York auction. Foolish- ly lending the opal to KG may be the one altruistic act that Howard commits throughout the entire course of the film's running time, but it ends up being the one that bites him in the ass good and proper: the basketball star insists the opal improves his performance on the court, and may not be all that willing to return it in time for the auction. Not that the hard-gambling, sweet-talking and always-scheming Howard doesn't have other problems to distract him in the meantime. He is already all but divorced Adam Sandler finally puts his talents to good use in the latest salvo from the Safdie brothers, the dynamic duo who are helping to redefine contemporary indie cinema Teodor Reljic The electric charge of the downward spiral Got Furby? Adam Sandler takes on the role of morally reprehensible jeweller Howard Ratner in Josh and Benny Safdie's most recent jolt of cinematic adrenaline