Uncut Gems (2019) on Netflix
Howard Ratner sells jewelry at KMH in New York's Diamond District and owes $100,000 to Arno, his brother-in-law and loan shark. Basketball star Kevin Garnett wants to borrow a rare black opal.
- Netflix2.8/5
- IMDb7.4/10362,124 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
Howard Ratner is a gambling addict whose jewelry store, KMH, sits in New York City's Diamond District. He owes $100,000 to Arno, his brother-in-law and loan shark. His wife Dinah will divorce him after Passover, and Julia, who works at KMH, is his girlfriend. Demany, a business associate, brings basketball star Kevin Garnett into the store just as a rare black opal from Ethiopia arrives. Garnett becomes obsessed with the stone and insists on holding it for luck at that night's game. Howard agrees and takes Garnett's 2008 NBA Championship ring as security. Once Garnett leaves, Howard pawns the ring and bets it on a six-way parlay tied to Garnett's performance that night.
Cast
- Mesfin Lamengoas Wounded Miner
- Sun Zhi Hua-Hiltonas Mine Foreman
- Liang Wei-Hui-Duncanas Mine Management 1
- Deneke Muhugetaas Lead Miner 1
- Habtunu Africhoas Lead Miner 2
- Warren Finkelsteinas Dr. Blauman
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Uncut Gems (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Safdies first approached Adam Sandler to star in 2010 and 2015, but his manager rejected the script; Sandler only agreed in April 2018 after watching their film Good Time.
- Jonah Hill was cast as Howard Ratner in May 2017 and the Safdies tried to rewrite the character as younger, but Hill dropped out over scheduling and left to direct Mid90s.
- Three hundred actresses auditioned for the role of Julia, with Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson and Kim Kardashian floated for it, before it went to Julia Fox.
- The Safdies wrote the basketball-player part with Bryant in mind and planned to center the story on the day he set the Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record, but Bryant's agent said he wanted only to direct.
- Amar'e Stoudemire refused to shave his head to mirror his Knicks-era look, and Joel Embiid dropped out when the Safdies moved filming to the basketball season, so the Safdies settled on Kevin Garnett.
- Daniel Lopatin recorded several songs with the Weeknd for the film that were not used, though he has production credits on the Weeknd's 2020 album After Hours.
- The Safdies rented and ripped Criterion discs from Netflix growing up, and Josh Safdie said being acquired by Criterion felt like sneaking into a museum.
