The later part of my adolescence and early 20s were punctuated by the occasional Adam Sandler/Happy Madison comedy: Billy Madison (“O’Doyle Rules!”). Happy Gilmore (“The price is wrong!). The Waterboy (“Visualize and attack”). I liked him as a dramatic actor in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, but I agree with the critics of Uncut Gems: this is his best role.
The movie chronicles a couple of days in the life of Howard, family man and gambling addict. The plot involves him acquiring an opal and then trying to sell it so he can pay off several loan sharks and bookies. To be with him is to just be in the midst of chaos. The pro-single part comes in the few scenes he has with his wife, Dinah. Idina Menzel gives a nearly wordless performance as she looks at him with contempt. They’re in the beginning stages of initiating divorce, which they’re keeping secret from their two children until after Passover Seder.
There is one scene that reveals the hatred Dinah has for her husband. When Howard tries to reconcile, Dinah just says, “You are the most annoying person I have ever met.” On paper, that reads like a harmless statement, but given the context, it just oozes with malice. Howard gives Dinah permission to punch him and she fakes it, like a bullying 12-year-old might, just before busting out laughing. How many real-life marriage dynamics are like that? Anyone?